A Whole New World, A Whole New Life! -- A Jan-Feb-Mar 2015 TR -- *COMPLETED* 9/29
- Thread starter DisneyFreak98
- Start date
heaven2dc
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- May 26, 2003
I have had such a great time reading about your 3 month adventure (I've been reading at work and finally am able to comment while at home). We have always wanted to have a staycation at Disney World and wondered what it would be like. Thanks for sharing your family's journey 
Can't wait to read all about your recent trip and love the updates on your new home!
Can't wait to read all about your recent trip and love the updates on your new home!
DisneyFreak98
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Oct 15, 2012
I know! That was the only time we ever saw it like that, so maybe it was just some sort of crazy circumstance.
Thank you! We absolutely loved MNSSHP! I'm really excited to share our experience with all of you.
Thank you so much for reading! I'm glad that you're enjoying it.I have had such a great time reading about your 3 month adventure (I've been reading at work and finally am able to comment while at home). We have always wanted to have a staycation at Disney World and wondered what it would be like. Thanks for sharing your family's journey
DisneyFreak98
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Oct 15, 2012
This morning we got up and it was just like any other morning - we got all of our school and work done before lunch, which was around noon. Travis and I made the walk up to Settlement to fill up our mugs a couple of times, but other than that we pretty much just worked. Mom made lunch and we ate outside; we were so glad to be having good weather almost every day now.
After lunch we cleaned up and started getting ready to head to Hollywood Studios! We hadn't eaten in the parks for a while, so we decided we were going to eat out tonight. That meant we didn't have to pack dinner, so we just threw some snacks and water into our backpacks and headed out. By the time we were out the door, waited for two buses, and made the ride over to the park, we arrived at Hollywood around quarter of 2:00.
We went through bag check, scanned our bands, and headed into the park. As we were entering we saw some citizens of Hollywood out performing.
Our first stop was Sunset Boulevard, where we had FastPasses for Tower of Terror.
Travis and I stayed out and hung around the stores while Mom, Dad, and Sam rode. They had a great time, and once they got off all of us except for Dad headed over to Rock n Rollercoaster to ride single rider.
Dad sat outside and waited for us, and we ended up taking about 20-30 minutes.
It was a little after 3:00 at this point, and our Toy Story Mania FastPasses weren't good until 3:30. We started making our way in that direction, and as we were walking down the street we noticed some more citizens of Hollywood out doing a show. Since we had time we stopped to watch, and we were so glad we did! They were doing a little comedy show, and it was absolutely hilarious. There was a lot of crowd interaction and improv, and it was all just really fun.
We watched for about 15 minutes, and by then it was basically time for our FP. We made it over to Pixar Place where we scanned our bands and headed inside. We only waited about 5 minutes before riding, and we had a good round. I went with Sam, and I ended up beating him by only 300 points!
Once we got off we decided to head over to the Star Tours / Muppets area. We went over to Muppets first, where we waited about 5 minutes for the next showing of Muppet Vision 3D.
That was great as always, and afterward we walked over to Star Tours. We had a FastPass for that, so we pretty much just walked right on. We had a good sequence, but none of us were the rebel spy.
It was getting close to 5:00 now, so we were starting to think about dinner. There was a 5:30 Beauty and the Beast show that we wanted to watch, so we knew we wanted to be in that area. We decided to check out the restaurants on Sunset Boulevard and get something there.
We made our way over there and checked out what the different stations had to offer. There are 2-3 different restaurants there that serve a variety of things from hamburgers to pizza to pulled pork covered hot dogs.
We decided to get something from Catalina Eddie's, which has pizza and salads. The boys all got pizza and Mom and I got salads. The pizza was good, but unfortunately not the salads. Most of the lettuce was wilted and it was severely under-dressed, which is actually very unusual for Disney. We're not really people who complain though, so we just ate them anyways.
Now, I hate to say this, but the mood among us today wasn't really the best. I think everyone was a little tired, and maybe the fact that we had been around each other non-stop for almost 3 months straight was getting to us. We had tried to get past it all day, but all of us were just at the end of our ropes. We had planned to stay for Beauty and the Beast, but we just couldn't pull it together so we ended up going home early. We were all pretty upset at this point, and we just wanted to go home.
It seemed to take so much longer than usual, but we finally made it back to the Fort and back to the RV. We all took some time to ourselves, then later that night we had a little family meeting. We basically just talked about getting along better, keeping a positive attitude, and being more patient. We all decided that we wanted our last 2-3 weeks in Disney to be spectacular, and that wouldn't happen if we were all short with one another. We ended with a giant group hug (I kind of had to force my brothers, but it was sweet), and we all went to bed that night happy.
We really usually get along super great, but nobody is perfect and we all have our moments. I was actually really happy with our good day / bad day ratio for our whole trip. I can only recall maybe 2-3 days that weren't great, and I'd say that's pretty good for being there for almost 90 days. It was unfortunate that this was one of them, but we were able to move past it and have an amazing final leg of our trip.
Tomorrow we were going to spend some time at Epcot!
After lunch we cleaned up and started getting ready to head to Hollywood Studios! We hadn't eaten in the parks for a while, so we decided we were going to eat out tonight. That meant we didn't have to pack dinner, so we just threw some snacks and water into our backpacks and headed out. By the time we were out the door, waited for two buses, and made the ride over to the park, we arrived at Hollywood around quarter of 2:00.
We went through bag check, scanned our bands, and headed into the park. As we were entering we saw some citizens of Hollywood out performing.
Our first stop was Sunset Boulevard, where we had FastPasses for Tower of Terror.
Travis and I stayed out and hung around the stores while Mom, Dad, and Sam rode. They had a great time, and once they got off all of us except for Dad headed over to Rock n Rollercoaster to ride single rider.
Dad sat outside and waited for us, and we ended up taking about 20-30 minutes.
It was a little after 3:00 at this point, and our Toy Story Mania FastPasses weren't good until 3:30. We started making our way in that direction, and as we were walking down the street we noticed some more citizens of Hollywood out doing a show. Since we had time we stopped to watch, and we were so glad we did! They were doing a little comedy show, and it was absolutely hilarious. There was a lot of crowd interaction and improv, and it was all just really fun.
We watched for about 15 minutes, and by then it was basically time for our FP. We made it over to Pixar Place where we scanned our bands and headed inside. We only waited about 5 minutes before riding, and we had a good round. I went with Sam, and I ended up beating him by only 300 points!
Once we got off we decided to head over to the Star Tours / Muppets area. We went over to Muppets first, where we waited about 5 minutes for the next showing of Muppet Vision 3D.
That was great as always, and afterward we walked over to Star Tours. We had a FastPass for that, so we pretty much just walked right on. We had a good sequence, but none of us were the rebel spy.
It was getting close to 5:00 now, so we were starting to think about dinner. There was a 5:30 Beauty and the Beast show that we wanted to watch, so we knew we wanted to be in that area. We decided to check out the restaurants on Sunset Boulevard and get something there.
We made our way over there and checked out what the different stations had to offer. There are 2-3 different restaurants there that serve a variety of things from hamburgers to pizza to pulled pork covered hot dogs.
We decided to get something from Catalina Eddie's, which has pizza and salads. The boys all got pizza and Mom and I got salads. The pizza was good, but unfortunately not the salads. Most of the lettuce was wilted and it was severely under-dressed, which is actually very unusual for Disney. We're not really people who complain though, so we just ate them anyways.
Now, I hate to say this, but the mood among us today wasn't really the best. I think everyone was a little tired, and maybe the fact that we had been around each other non-stop for almost 3 months straight was getting to us. We had tried to get past it all day, but all of us were just at the end of our ropes. We had planned to stay for Beauty and the Beast, but we just couldn't pull it together so we ended up going home early. We were all pretty upset at this point, and we just wanted to go home.
It seemed to take so much longer than usual, but we finally made it back to the Fort and back to the RV. We all took some time to ourselves, then later that night we had a little family meeting. We basically just talked about getting along better, keeping a positive attitude, and being more patient. We all decided that we wanted our last 2-3 weeks in Disney to be spectacular, and that wouldn't happen if we were all short with one another. We ended with a giant group hug (I kind of had to force my brothers, but it was sweet), and we all went to bed that night happy.
We really usually get along super great, but nobody is perfect and we all have our moments. I was actually really happy with our good day / bad day ratio for our whole trip. I can only recall maybe 2-3 days that weren't great, and I'd say that's pretty good for being there for almost 90 days. It was unfortunate that this was one of them, but we were able to move past it and have an amazing final leg of our trip.
Tomorrow we were going to spend some time at Epcot!
Last edited:
DisneyFreak98
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Oct 15, 2012
It was totally okay. We usually get along great, but every family has their moments! We did have an amazing end to our trip, though.
DisneyFreak98
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Oct 15, 2012
Today was Sunday, but we didn't go to church this morning. We had 3 weeks left, and we decided to just stay home, get a little extra work done, and go to the parks. We slept in and spent the morning hanging out at the RV. We did some extra school and work since we would be going into "vacation mode" soon, we walked up to Settlement a couple times to fill our cups, and Mom made lunch a little before noon.
We ate outside again, and afterward we cleaned up and got ready to head to Epcot! We were finally going to visit the World Showcase for the Flower and Garden Festival, so we decided not to pack dinner and try some food from the different stands they have set up for the festival. We threw some stuff in our backpacks and headed out the door around 12:30.
We didn't have to wait long for either of our buses and it's a short ride over to the park, so we got there about 12:50.
We went through bag check and entered the park, where our first stop was Spaceship Earth. We had a FastPass, so we basically walked right on. I went with Sam and we had a fun ride.
Once we got off the ride we set out to find Flower and Garden stuff we had yet to see. We had our festival passports with us, which were really handy for locating all the different gardens and exhibits. There was still some stuff in Future World that we hadn't seen, so we wanted to get to that before heading into World Showcase.
First was the Inside Out emotion garden. They had a different section for all of the emotions, and it was really cute.
I actually still haven't seen the movie, but I pre-ordered the DVD and it's coming this Tuesday! I'm really excited to see it.
We had 1:30 FastPasses for Soarin', so we headed over to the Land for that. We got in there and saw that the stand-by line was up to 160 minutes! We were really glad we had FastPasses, and we only waited about 15 minutes. We had a great ride and great seats.
Once we got off we headed back outside and over to where Figment is. Except today we weren't riding Figment. It was our goal on this trip to do absolutely every attraction, and that even included *shudder* Captain EO. I know that there are some big Captain EO fans out there, but we have never ever been with them. We kids had ever actually seen it before, and our parents hadn't seen it in years.
We headed up the hill to the theater, where we waited about 10 minutes for the next show. I remembered the theater from when it used to house the Honey I shrunk the Kids show, which I loved as a kid.
Pretty soon we headed inside and sat down where, shockingly, there were only like 10 other people.
The show was honestly just as bad as I expected, if not worse, but it did give us something to laugh about. We spent the whole rest of our trip making Captain EO jokes.
Once it was finally over, we headed back outside. They have the really cool jumping fountain up there, so I was at least glad we got to see that. If we hadn't come up there to watch the show we probably wouldn't have seen it.
Captain EO was our last stop in Future World, and next we were headed into the World Showcase! We made our way over there and headed to the right into Canada first. We were mainly here to check out Flower and Garden stuff, so that's what we did.
We found Bambi and friends in Canada:
They didn't have any special gardens or anything else in Canada, so we moved on to the UK. We found the Shakespeare garden, the tea garden, and Peter Pan topiary here.
They were giving out samples of iced tea in the store, so of course we had to try some. It was some sort of fruity tea, and it was really good.
We also saw Pooh Bear and friends hanging out in the UK.
Up next we made our way to France, where we found the Beauty and the Beast and Cinderella topiary.
We passed through Morocco next, where they had a little garden set up but no topiary.
We were checking out all the different offers from the food stands as we went along and getting our booklets stamped as well, and so far we had seen a few dishes that looked especially good.
Next we traveled into Japan, where they have all the Bonsai trees. Those little trees fascinate me, so it was fun to check them all out.
The Japan food stand has Frushi (fruit sushi), which we had heard amazing things about. That was the one thing we knew we wanted to try, so we got in line to get some. We got 2 to share, and it was just as good as I expected! It's coconut flavored rice with fruit in the middle along with whipped cream and raspberry sauce. Delicious!
We finished our snack and moved on to the America pavilion. We found sheriff Woody there!
It was about 3:40 now, and there was a Voices of Liberty performance at 4:00. We decided to stick around and wait for that, so we headed inside to have a seat. They came out right on time, and we had a great time watching them. What they can do is so beautiful, and we always enjoy getting to hear them sing.
There was an American Adventure show starting right after the singers, so we decided to stay and watch that. We headed upstairs and into the theater, where we had a great time watching the show.
By the time the show let out and we got outside, it was close to 5:00. We discussed where we wanted to get some food, and everyone agreed that we wanted to try the barbecue stand right there in America. We got in line and place our order. Both Mom and I tried the pulled pork slider, and the boys tried some other kind of meat that I don't remember. They had a giant smoker set up and everything, which was really cool.
The food came out quickly, and we sat down at one of the tables outside to eat. Everything was super delicious!
The Garden Rocks concert series was featuring the Gin Blossoms tonight, and there was already a line a mile long waiting to get in to the outdoor theater there. All the concerts are first come first serve, but nobody that we really cared about seeing made an appearance while we were there.
After we finished our food, we continued to move on to Italy. Italy was home to the Lady and the Tramp and Miss Piggy topiary, along with the Pizza and Terra Cotta gardens.
We moved on from there to Germany, where we found Snow White and her 7 Dwarfs! I think they were probably my favorite topiary of the festival.
Next we walked through the African Outpost, where we spotted characters from the Lion King!
As it was getting later in the day we noticed that the crowd was thickening. We were glad that we had almost made it through all the countries, because it was getting a little difficult to maneuver through all the people.
We passed through China, where they just had one little garden, and walked straight through Mexico because we had already seen the orchid garden they had there.
We took the bridge back to Future World, where we saw the monorail go by.
There was another garden in Future World we had yet to visit, which was the Cars one. It was located sort of near Test Track, so we headed in that direction to check out the Cars topiary and the cactus garden.
They had some really cool cacti there, and a lot of fun facts about the plants.
After checking out all the prickly plants, it was time for our last FastPass of the day. We headed over to Mission: Space to scan our bands and get in line. Dad sat out while the rest of us rode. Mom, Travis, and Sam went together on the orange version while I went by myself on the green version. I waited about 5 minutes and they waited about 10, so I got off a little before them. I found Dad playing Mission: Space Race and joined him until the others came off the ride.
Once we were all together again we headed back outside.
There was a prehistoric plant garden set up by Ellen's Energy Adventure, so we walked over there to check it out. They had some really cool plants there that we had never seen before, so it was really cool.
We headed back over to the main area of Future World, where we found the Gardener's Palate garden. There was a lot of great information there about flowers and colors.
At this point we had seen everything that we wanted to, plus it was getting dark and it's not as fun to look at flowers in the dark, so we started to head out of the park. We found these beautiful butterflies on our way:
It was about 6:45 now, so it wasn't too late. We discussed whether we wanted to just head back home or maybe go somewhere else. There were still resorts that I wanted to see, so we talked about maybe visiting one tonight. Sam and Travis weren't interested in that, so the 2 of them headed back to the Fort together.
Mom, Dad, and I decided to go check out the All-Star resorts tonight, since it was kind of a 3-in-1 deal (All-Star Movies, Music, and Sports). We caught a bus over there and arrived just after 7:00! We arrived at the Sports section first, so that was our first stop.
We ate outside again, and afterward we cleaned up and got ready to head to Epcot! We were finally going to visit the World Showcase for the Flower and Garden Festival, so we decided not to pack dinner and try some food from the different stands they have set up for the festival. We threw some stuff in our backpacks and headed out the door around 12:30.
We didn't have to wait long for either of our buses and it's a short ride over to the park, so we got there about 12:50.
We went through bag check and entered the park, where our first stop was Spaceship Earth. We had a FastPass, so we basically walked right on. I went with Sam and we had a fun ride.
Once we got off the ride we set out to find Flower and Garden stuff we had yet to see. We had our festival passports with us, which were really handy for locating all the different gardens and exhibits. There was still some stuff in Future World that we hadn't seen, so we wanted to get to that before heading into World Showcase.
First was the Inside Out emotion garden. They had a different section for all of the emotions, and it was really cute.
I actually still haven't seen the movie, but I pre-ordered the DVD and it's coming this Tuesday! I'm really excited to see it.
We had 1:30 FastPasses for Soarin', so we headed over to the Land for that. We got in there and saw that the stand-by line was up to 160 minutes! We were really glad we had FastPasses, and we only waited about 15 minutes. We had a great ride and great seats.
Once we got off we headed back outside and over to where Figment is. Except today we weren't riding Figment. It was our goal on this trip to do absolutely every attraction, and that even included *shudder* Captain EO. I know that there are some big Captain EO fans out there, but we have never ever been with them. We kids had ever actually seen it before, and our parents hadn't seen it in years.
We headed up the hill to the theater, where we waited about 10 minutes for the next show. I remembered the theater from when it used to house the Honey I shrunk the Kids show, which I loved as a kid.
Pretty soon we headed inside and sat down where, shockingly, there were only like 10 other people.
The show was honestly just as bad as I expected, if not worse, but it did give us something to laugh about. We spent the whole rest of our trip making Captain EO jokes.
Once it was finally over, we headed back outside. They have the really cool jumping fountain up there, so I was at least glad we got to see that. If we hadn't come up there to watch the show we probably wouldn't have seen it.
Captain EO was our last stop in Future World, and next we were headed into the World Showcase! We made our way over there and headed to the right into Canada first. We were mainly here to check out Flower and Garden stuff, so that's what we did.
We found Bambi and friends in Canada:
They didn't have any special gardens or anything else in Canada, so we moved on to the UK. We found the Shakespeare garden, the tea garden, and Peter Pan topiary here.
They were giving out samples of iced tea in the store, so of course we had to try some. It was some sort of fruity tea, and it was really good.
We also saw Pooh Bear and friends hanging out in the UK.
Up next we made our way to France, where we found the Beauty and the Beast and Cinderella topiary.
We passed through Morocco next, where they had a little garden set up but no topiary.
We were checking out all the different offers from the food stands as we went along and getting our booklets stamped as well, and so far we had seen a few dishes that looked especially good.
Next we traveled into Japan, where they have all the Bonsai trees. Those little trees fascinate me, so it was fun to check them all out.
The Japan food stand has Frushi (fruit sushi), which we had heard amazing things about. That was the one thing we knew we wanted to try, so we got in line to get some. We got 2 to share, and it was just as good as I expected! It's coconut flavored rice with fruit in the middle along with whipped cream and raspberry sauce. Delicious!
We finished our snack and moved on to the America pavilion. We found sheriff Woody there!
It was about 3:40 now, and there was a Voices of Liberty performance at 4:00. We decided to stick around and wait for that, so we headed inside to have a seat. They came out right on time, and we had a great time watching them. What they can do is so beautiful, and we always enjoy getting to hear them sing.
There was an American Adventure show starting right after the singers, so we decided to stay and watch that. We headed upstairs and into the theater, where we had a great time watching the show.
By the time the show let out and we got outside, it was close to 5:00. We discussed where we wanted to get some food, and everyone agreed that we wanted to try the barbecue stand right there in America. We got in line and place our order. Both Mom and I tried the pulled pork slider, and the boys tried some other kind of meat that I don't remember. They had a giant smoker set up and everything, which was really cool.
The food came out quickly, and we sat down at one of the tables outside to eat. Everything was super delicious!
The Garden Rocks concert series was featuring the Gin Blossoms tonight, and there was already a line a mile long waiting to get in to the outdoor theater there. All the concerts are first come first serve, but nobody that we really cared about seeing made an appearance while we were there.
After we finished our food, we continued to move on to Italy. Italy was home to the Lady and the Tramp and Miss Piggy topiary, along with the Pizza and Terra Cotta gardens.
We moved on from there to Germany, where we found Snow White and her 7 Dwarfs! I think they were probably my favorite topiary of the festival.
Next we walked through the African Outpost, where we spotted characters from the Lion King!
As it was getting later in the day we noticed that the crowd was thickening. We were glad that we had almost made it through all the countries, because it was getting a little difficult to maneuver through all the people.
We passed through China, where they just had one little garden, and walked straight through Mexico because we had already seen the orchid garden they had there.
We took the bridge back to Future World, where we saw the monorail go by.
There was another garden in Future World we had yet to visit, which was the Cars one. It was located sort of near Test Track, so we headed in that direction to check out the Cars topiary and the cactus garden.
They had some really cool cacti there, and a lot of fun facts about the plants.
After checking out all the prickly plants, it was time for our last FastPass of the day. We headed over to Mission: Space to scan our bands and get in line. Dad sat out while the rest of us rode. Mom, Travis, and Sam went together on the orange version while I went by myself on the green version. I waited about 5 minutes and they waited about 10, so I got off a little before them. I found Dad playing Mission: Space Race and joined him until the others came off the ride.
Once we were all together again we headed back outside.
There was a prehistoric plant garden set up by Ellen's Energy Adventure, so we walked over there to check it out. They had some really cool plants there that we had never seen before, so it was really cool.
We headed back over to the main area of Future World, where we found the Gardener's Palate garden. There was a lot of great information there about flowers and colors.
At this point we had seen everything that we wanted to, plus it was getting dark and it's not as fun to look at flowers in the dark, so we started to head out of the park. We found these beautiful butterflies on our way:
It was about 6:45 now, so it wasn't too late. We discussed whether we wanted to just head back home or maybe go somewhere else. There were still resorts that I wanted to see, so we talked about maybe visiting one tonight. Sam and Travis weren't interested in that, so the 2 of them headed back to the Fort together.
Mom, Dad, and I decided to go check out the All-Star resorts tonight, since it was kind of a 3-in-1 deal (All-Star Movies, Music, and Sports). We caught a bus over there and arrived just after 7:00! We arrived at the Sports section first, so that was our first stop.
DisneyFreak98
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Oct 15, 2012
Once we arrived at All-Star Sports, we headed inside the lobby. We checked out the gift shop and food court area while we were there, and also the different decorations on the walls. It was all really nicely themed, and super fun!
After looking around inside we headed out to where the big stuff is. The resort has a surfing, baseball, football, basketball, and tennis section. The main building lets out into the surfing section, so that's what we checked out first. They had giant surfboards and shark fins everywhere.
Next we wandered around the basketball section. They didn't have anything too interesting there.
We came to the tennis section, where we found Donald Duck and his nephews! Huey, Dewy, and Louie had the wrong sport going on.
We came to the football section next, where giant helmets were the decorations.
Baseball was next, where they had a really great themed pool.
That was our last stop in the Sports section, so now we had to figure out how to get to the next resort. We found our way by walking across a parking lot over to the All-Star Music resort. We found the main building and the section connected to it, which was the Mariachi section.
It's a really fun theme, and the 3 Caballeros were hanging out at the pool there. We headed inside the main lobby to check out the decorations and stuff in there. All of the resorts have the exact same layout, just with different themed decorations.
After checking things out inside, we headed back out to explore the other areas. As we were walking we noticed that there were tons of school groups there. A lot of them were school bands, which makes sense since it's the All-Star Music resort. We also saw more security guards in one night than I think we've ever seen at any resort ever. We figured the two might have something to do with each other.
Our next stop was the jazz section, where we saw giant instruments and a pool featuring the Little Mermaid.
We also saw the Rock section featuring giant guitars and jukeboxes, and the country section featuring giant banjos and cowboy boots.
Our last stop was my favorite section out of all the resorts - Broadway! I'm basically obsessed with theater, and it is my dream to visit the real Broadway and see a show one day.
The whole section is great, with giant signs, theater facades, and walkways that actually look like the streets of New York. There was no one around, so I pretty much pranced down the street while my parents just laughed at me.
After I was satisfied with my time on Broadway, we made our way across another parking lot to the last resort - All-Star Movies. As we were walking we saw all of the giant buses that the band kids must have came in, along with a ton of trailers that must have carried their instruments.
We got over to the resort, and we ended up in the Herbie section. We weren't sure where that was in relation to the main building, so we just kind of made our way around the different sections until we made it there.
We saw the Babes in Toyland section, which I actually found kind of creepy.
We also found the Fantasia section, which is the one right next to the main building.
They have an awesome pool there as well.
There were still 3 more sections to see, so we decided to do that before going into the lobby. We were getting pretty tired now (walking all the way around all 3 resorts was pretty intense) so we didn't take too much time on our last 3 sections.
We saw the 101 Dalmatians, which was really adorable.
Also the Mighty Duck, featuring Goofy.
And finally Toy Story, which was probably the coolest section.
It was 8:15 now, and we were definitely ready to head back. We had a really nice time walking around together, talking, and getting to see something new. We made our way back to the main lobby, checked out the decorations and gift shop there, then headed out to the bus stop to get a bus to Magic Kingdom. From there we would ride the boat back to the Fort.
We waited about 10 minutes for a bus, and it took about 10-15 minutes to get there. Once there we made our way towards the entrance, but sadly not inside the park.
We got in line for the boat, which wasn't very long - probably because Wishes was staring in about 5 minutes.
A boat came within 10 minutes, which meant that we got to see Wishes from the water! It was incredibly magical, especially since we got the larger style boat that has seat outside in the front. We had a spectacular ride back to the Fort, and we watched the fireworks until the trees blocked our view.
Once we got back to the Fort we made the short walk home to the RV. Sam and Travis were there just hanging out and watching TV, and after putting all of our stuff away we joined them until we went to bed around 10:00. Today had been incredibly magical, from start to finish!
Tomorrow we planned on spending some time at Magic Kingdom!
After looking around inside we headed out to where the big stuff is. The resort has a surfing, baseball, football, basketball, and tennis section. The main building lets out into the surfing section, so that's what we checked out first. They had giant surfboards and shark fins everywhere.
Next we wandered around the basketball section. They didn't have anything too interesting there.
We came to the tennis section, where we found Donald Duck and his nephews! Huey, Dewy, and Louie had the wrong sport going on.
We came to the football section next, where giant helmets were the decorations.
Baseball was next, where they had a really great themed pool.
That was our last stop in the Sports section, so now we had to figure out how to get to the next resort. We found our way by walking across a parking lot over to the All-Star Music resort. We found the main building and the section connected to it, which was the Mariachi section.
It's a really fun theme, and the 3 Caballeros were hanging out at the pool there. We headed inside the main lobby to check out the decorations and stuff in there. All of the resorts have the exact same layout, just with different themed decorations.
After checking things out inside, we headed back out to explore the other areas. As we were walking we noticed that there were tons of school groups there. A lot of them were school bands, which makes sense since it's the All-Star Music resort. We also saw more security guards in one night than I think we've ever seen at any resort ever. We figured the two might have something to do with each other.
Our next stop was the jazz section, where we saw giant instruments and a pool featuring the Little Mermaid.
We also saw the Rock section featuring giant guitars and jukeboxes, and the country section featuring giant banjos and cowboy boots.
Our last stop was my favorite section out of all the resorts - Broadway! I'm basically obsessed with theater, and it is my dream to visit the real Broadway and see a show one day.
The whole section is great, with giant signs, theater facades, and walkways that actually look like the streets of New York. There was no one around, so I pretty much pranced down the street while my parents just laughed at me.
After I was satisfied with my time on Broadway, we made our way across another parking lot to the last resort - All-Star Movies. As we were walking we saw all of the giant buses that the band kids must have came in, along with a ton of trailers that must have carried their instruments.
We got over to the resort, and we ended up in the Herbie section. We weren't sure where that was in relation to the main building, so we just kind of made our way around the different sections until we made it there.
We saw the Babes in Toyland section, which I actually found kind of creepy.
We also found the Fantasia section, which is the one right next to the main building.
They have an awesome pool there as well.
There were still 3 more sections to see, so we decided to do that before going into the lobby. We were getting pretty tired now (walking all the way around all 3 resorts was pretty intense) so we didn't take too much time on our last 3 sections.
We saw the 101 Dalmatians, which was really adorable.
Also the Mighty Duck, featuring Goofy.
And finally Toy Story, which was probably the coolest section.
It was 8:15 now, and we were definitely ready to head back. We had a really nice time walking around together, talking, and getting to see something new. We made our way back to the main lobby, checked out the decorations and gift shop there, then headed out to the bus stop to get a bus to Magic Kingdom. From there we would ride the boat back to the Fort.
We waited about 10 minutes for a bus, and it took about 10-15 minutes to get there. Once there we made our way towards the entrance, but sadly not inside the park.
We got in line for the boat, which wasn't very long - probably because Wishes was staring in about 5 minutes.
A boat came within 10 minutes, which meant that we got to see Wishes from the water! It was incredibly magical, especially since we got the larger style boat that has seat outside in the front. We had a spectacular ride back to the Fort, and we watched the fireworks until the trees blocked our view.
Once we got back to the Fort we made the short walk home to the RV. Sam and Travis were there just hanging out and watching TV, and after putting all of our stuff away we joined them until we went to bed around 10:00. Today had been incredibly magical, from start to finish!
Tomorrow we planned on spending some time at Magic Kingdom!
KathyM2
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jun 16, 2011
I can see how you'd start to get on each others' nerves...especially living in such close quarters. It's amazing you didn't fight more. Glad you worked it all out.
I love those. They are one of my earliest memories of going to Epcot when I was about 7 years old.
I'm so sad that I missed this when I was last there in October - I don't know if they were serving it with Food and Wine, or I just somehow didn't see it, but very sad. Next time.
That is such a happy coincidence!! So awesome. Would have been hard to do that on purpose but it worked out perfectly!
Terra Nova guy
DIS Dad #811 Newfoundland, Canada
- Joined
- Nov 11, 2014
Hi Shannon! I just wanted to say hello and introduce myself. I've just recently discovered trip reports and I started reading yours a while ago. It took some time to get through all your great updates, but I'm happy to say I read them all and I've caught up! Thank you for sharing your incredible adventure. I have to say I am a little jealous that you got to spend so much time at Fort Wilderness. I have always wanted to stay there, but unfortunately my wife and daughters are just not into camping, so it will probably never happen 
I'll be reading along with the rest of your updates! Looking forward to them
I'll be reading along with the rest of your updates! Looking forward to them
DaisyDuck001
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- May 5, 2006
Did you get any pictures of the Pizza Garden at Epcot? Also, you mentioned how you didn't get over to the campfire one night that it rained. Was there any other evening where you went to the rainy day version of the campfire program?
DisneyFreak98
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Oct 15, 2012
Today was Monday, so we got up and got to our regular routine. Mom and Dad took the truck and went to run a few errands before lunch while we kids stayed home and got our work done. Once they got back, we all helped unload the groceries and finished our work while Mom made lunch. We ate around noon, and afterwards we got ready to go to Magic Kingdom! We made dinner, packed our bags, and headed out to the boat docks.
After getting there, waiting for a boat, and making the ride to the park, we arrive a little after 1:00.
After going through bag check and scanning our bands, we headed inside the park. The Dapper Dans were out when we walked in, so we stopped to watch them for a few minutes.
After watching them for a bit, we went across the street to the Town Square Theater where they had computers you could use to view and change your FastPasses. We just had one quick change to make, so we did that quickly before heading out and making our way down Main Street.
Once we got to the Hub, we decided to go to the left and into Adventureland. The first thing we did was use our FastPasses for Pirates. The line took about 10 minutes, and we had a really good ride. Once we got off we decided to ride the Magic Carpets, which had a 15 minute wait. Sam, Travis, and I went together and we had fun bouncing around.
It was getting close to 2:30 once we were off the ride. Today was Festival of Fantasy's first anniversary, so I really wanted to watch the parade, which started at 3:00. Sam was the only other person who was interested in watching with me, so he and I went over to Frontierland to get a spot while everyone else rode some more rides around Adventureland and Frontierland.
We found an awesome spot on the street in front of the Frontierland Mercantile store, and we settled in for the 30 minute wait until the parade started. We saw three different high school marching bands perform while we were waiting, so that helped to pass the time.
Soon enough the parade was starting, and it was still just as magical as the first time I ever saw it.
Once the parade was over we called Mom to find out where they were. They were making their way through Fantasyland to Tomorrowland because we had Buzz Lightyear FastPasses. They said they would wait for us when they got there, so we started fighting our way through the post-parade crowd to get to Tomorrowland. We were able to make it there in good time, and as soon as we got there we found the rest of our family and headed over to ride Space Ranger Spin.
We had a good ride, and Dad was even a Galactic Hero. Unfortunately my laser gun was broken, so I just tried to snap a few pictures instead.
The stand-by line was only 10 minutes, so once we got off we decided to go again. My gun was working this time, so that was good.
After we got off for the second time, we decided to ride the Peoplemover. If you haven't caught on yet, that's basically our favorite thing to do in Tomorrowland. It almost never has a line, and it's just a really fun and unique attraction.
We got going on the ride, and as we were riding we heard some people in another car going by talking about how the lights were on in Space Mountain! We had the chance to see Space Mountain in the light one time before, many years ago. It's such a weird thing to see a ride that you only ever see in total darkness completely exposed in the light. We were really hoping that when our car went through Space Mountain that the lights would still be on. Sure enough they were, and we were totally delighted to see the crazy looking track.
Once we got off, we decided to head back through Fantasyland and do some stuff there. We picked Mickey's Philharmagic because we hadn't done that in a little while. It was only 5 minutes to the next show, and it was great as always. After that we went through to Liberty Square where we rode Haunted Mansion, which we waited 15-20 minutes for. I went with Mom and we had a lot of fun on that.
It was around 5:00 when we got off Mansion, so we decided to stop and eat dinner now. We found a table at the outdoor seating area by Hall of Presidents and ate our sandwiches there. That was really nice, and afterwards we moved on into Frontierland. We decided to see the Country Bears today, so we headed inside there where we waited about 10 minutes for the next show.
We had a lot of fun clapping our hands and stomping our feet with the bears, and once the show let out we continued on our way to Adventureland. We wanted to to do the Pirate's Adventure activity they have there, which is somewhat similar to the Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom but also very different. I don't remember if I've explained how this activity works yet, but just in case I haven't I'll explain it again. For the Pirate's Adventure you get a map of Adventureland that leads you around to different check points where you scan your magic band and the environment reacts and does different things. Skeletons talk to you, snakes spray water, things light up, and cannons shoot. The whole goal is to complete every map in order to help Jack Sparrow find Calypso's treasure.
We did a few different maps today, and we had a lot of fun traipsing around Adventureland hunting for treasure.
We finished up our last map in time for our 6:20 Jungle Cruise FastPasses. We headed down there where we scanned our bands and got in line. Unfortunately the FP line was pretty backed up, so t ended up taking about 20 minutes before we were getting on the ride. We didn't really mind waiting, and we had a good skipper so we were happy.
Once we got off we checked the FP+ area right there by Jungle Cruise to see if any more FastPasses were available for that night. We actually found a 7:30-8:30 Big Thunder FP, so we snatched that up! We had some time to kill before that was ready, so we checked the app for wait times. We saw that Splash Mountain had a 10 minute wait, so we headed back into Frontierland.
Once we got over there and got in line, we waited about 5-10 minutes before boarding our log. We had a great time finding our laughing place, and thankfully none of us got too soaked.
By the time we got off our BTM passes were ready, so we headed over there to get in line. We scanned our bands and headed inside, where we waited about 5 minutes. We rode in the very back, and we had a lot of fun. That's a really great ride to do in the dark!
Once we got off we stated making our way back through Liberty Square and into Fantasyland. We stopped at the Tangled bathroom on our way, which is also totally gorgeous at night.
We were on our way to get ice cream from Storybook Treats, but we decided to sop and ride the Carousel first because it was practically a walk-on. We had a great time goofing around (or should I say "horsing" around) on the Carousel, laughing and waving to all the people.
Once the ride was over we continued on our quest for ice cream. We made it to Storybook treats where we all began contemplating what to order. I don't remember what everyone got, but I know some people got root beer floats and ice cream sundaes. I ended up getting the berry frozen yogurt, which was very good. While we were ordering at the window, I think they must have accidentally made an extra chocolate ice cream cup, because the guy asked us if we would like to have it. It would feel silly to turn down free ice cream, so of course we took it. We all shared that along with our other ice creams. We had a really nice time sitting together and enjoying our treats.
It was a little after 8:30 by the time we were done, so we decided to call it a night and start making our way out of the park. The Electrical parade was starting at 9:00, so we were able to make it out before it began. We made our way out of the park and to the exit, where we got to the boat dock. It didn't take too long for the boat to come, and we had a nice boat ride back to the Fort.
By the time we got there and walked back to the RV it was a little after 9:00. We hung out for a little while before getting ready to go to bed around 10:00.
Today had been incredible and filled with magic! Going to MK is always a good time. The next day we had plans to go to Animal Kingdom for a few hours in the afternoon before coming back to the Fort to eat dinner at the Trail's End restaurant!
After getting there, waiting for a boat, and making the ride to the park, we arrive a little after 1:00.
After going through bag check and scanning our bands, we headed inside the park. The Dapper Dans were out when we walked in, so we stopped to watch them for a few minutes.
After watching them for a bit, we went across the street to the Town Square Theater where they had computers you could use to view and change your FastPasses. We just had one quick change to make, so we did that quickly before heading out and making our way down Main Street.
Once we got to the Hub, we decided to go to the left and into Adventureland. The first thing we did was use our FastPasses for Pirates. The line took about 10 minutes, and we had a really good ride. Once we got off we decided to ride the Magic Carpets, which had a 15 minute wait. Sam, Travis, and I went together and we had fun bouncing around.
It was getting close to 2:30 once we were off the ride. Today was Festival of Fantasy's first anniversary, so I really wanted to watch the parade, which started at 3:00. Sam was the only other person who was interested in watching with me, so he and I went over to Frontierland to get a spot while everyone else rode some more rides around Adventureland and Frontierland.
We found an awesome spot on the street in front of the Frontierland Mercantile store, and we settled in for the 30 minute wait until the parade started. We saw three different high school marching bands perform while we were waiting, so that helped to pass the time.
Soon enough the parade was starting, and it was still just as magical as the first time I ever saw it.
Once the parade was over we called Mom to find out where they were. They were making their way through Fantasyland to Tomorrowland because we had Buzz Lightyear FastPasses. They said they would wait for us when they got there, so we started fighting our way through the post-parade crowd to get to Tomorrowland. We were able to make it there in good time, and as soon as we got there we found the rest of our family and headed over to ride Space Ranger Spin.
We had a good ride, and Dad was even a Galactic Hero. Unfortunately my laser gun was broken, so I just tried to snap a few pictures instead.
The stand-by line was only 10 minutes, so once we got off we decided to go again. My gun was working this time, so that was good.
After we got off for the second time, we decided to ride the Peoplemover. If you haven't caught on yet, that's basically our favorite thing to do in Tomorrowland. It almost never has a line, and it's just a really fun and unique attraction.
We got going on the ride, and as we were riding we heard some people in another car going by talking about how the lights were on in Space Mountain! We had the chance to see Space Mountain in the light one time before, many years ago. It's such a weird thing to see a ride that you only ever see in total darkness completely exposed in the light. We were really hoping that when our car went through Space Mountain that the lights would still be on. Sure enough they were, and we were totally delighted to see the crazy looking track.
Once we got off, we decided to head back through Fantasyland and do some stuff there. We picked Mickey's Philharmagic because we hadn't done that in a little while. It was only 5 minutes to the next show, and it was great as always. After that we went through to Liberty Square where we rode Haunted Mansion, which we waited 15-20 minutes for. I went with Mom and we had a lot of fun on that.
It was around 5:00 when we got off Mansion, so we decided to stop and eat dinner now. We found a table at the outdoor seating area by Hall of Presidents and ate our sandwiches there. That was really nice, and afterwards we moved on into Frontierland. We decided to see the Country Bears today, so we headed inside there where we waited about 10 minutes for the next show.
We had a lot of fun clapping our hands and stomping our feet with the bears, and once the show let out we continued on our way to Adventureland. We wanted to to do the Pirate's Adventure activity they have there, which is somewhat similar to the Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom but also very different. I don't remember if I've explained how this activity works yet, but just in case I haven't I'll explain it again. For the Pirate's Adventure you get a map of Adventureland that leads you around to different check points where you scan your magic band and the environment reacts and does different things. Skeletons talk to you, snakes spray water, things light up, and cannons shoot. The whole goal is to complete every map in order to help Jack Sparrow find Calypso's treasure.
We did a few different maps today, and we had a lot of fun traipsing around Adventureland hunting for treasure.
We finished up our last map in time for our 6:20 Jungle Cruise FastPasses. We headed down there where we scanned our bands and got in line. Unfortunately the FP line was pretty backed up, so t ended up taking about 20 minutes before we were getting on the ride. We didn't really mind waiting, and we had a good skipper so we were happy.
Once we got off we checked the FP+ area right there by Jungle Cruise to see if any more FastPasses were available for that night. We actually found a 7:30-8:30 Big Thunder FP, so we snatched that up! We had some time to kill before that was ready, so we checked the app for wait times. We saw that Splash Mountain had a 10 minute wait, so we headed back into Frontierland.
Once we got over there and got in line, we waited about 5-10 minutes before boarding our log. We had a great time finding our laughing place, and thankfully none of us got too soaked.
By the time we got off our BTM passes were ready, so we headed over there to get in line. We scanned our bands and headed inside, where we waited about 5 minutes. We rode in the very back, and we had a lot of fun. That's a really great ride to do in the dark!
Once we got off we stated making our way back through Liberty Square and into Fantasyland. We stopped at the Tangled bathroom on our way, which is also totally gorgeous at night.
We were on our way to get ice cream from Storybook Treats, but we decided to sop and ride the Carousel first because it was practically a walk-on. We had a great time goofing around (or should I say "horsing" around) on the Carousel, laughing and waving to all the people.
Once the ride was over we continued on our quest for ice cream. We made it to Storybook treats where we all began contemplating what to order. I don't remember what everyone got, but I know some people got root beer floats and ice cream sundaes. I ended up getting the berry frozen yogurt, which was very good. While we were ordering at the window, I think they must have accidentally made an extra chocolate ice cream cup, because the guy asked us if we would like to have it. It would feel silly to turn down free ice cream, so of course we took it. We all shared that along with our other ice creams. We had a really nice time sitting together and enjoying our treats.
It was a little after 8:30 by the time we were done, so we decided to call it a night and start making our way out of the park. The Electrical parade was starting at 9:00, so we were able to make it out before it began. We made our way out of the park and to the exit, where we got to the boat dock. It didn't take too long for the boat to come, and we had a nice boat ride back to the Fort.
By the time we got there and walked back to the RV it was a little after 9:00. We hung out for a little while before getting ready to go to bed around 10:00.
Today had been incredible and filled with magic! Going to MK is always a good time. The next day we had plans to go to Animal Kingdom for a few hours in the afternoon before coming back to the Fort to eat dinner at the Trail's End restaurant!
DisneyFreak98
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Oct 15, 2012
Haha yes, our patience was definitely tested at times! I think the fact that we were all used to spending the majority of our time together at home anyways really helped.
I used to love the fountains when I was younger, too!
I'm actually not sure if they serve it during Food and Wine. I thought that they did, but maybe not. Definitely next time!
I know! It was totally incredible.
Hi there! I am very impressed that you read through all of my many updates! Good for you for sticking with it.Hi Shannon! I just wanted to say hello and introduce myself. I've just recently discovered trip reports and I started reading yours a while ago. It took some time to get through all your great updates, but I'm happy to say I read them all and I've caught up! Thank you for sharing your incredible adventure. I have to say I am a little jealous that you got to spend so much time at Fort Wilderness. I have always wanted to stay there, but unfortunately my wife and daughters are just not into camping, so it will probably never happen
I'll be reading along with the rest of your updates! Looking forward to them
Thank you so much for reading along, and I am so glad that you're enjoying it! This time was like a dream for me, and I'm so glad I get to share it with all of you.
Maybe if you get a super nice RV you could convince your family to go camping. Plus, Disney camping is way nicer than regular camping.
You're welcome, I'm so glad you enjoyed that! Wishes from the water was a dream.
I didn't get a photo of the garden on that day, but I might have one from another time. If I come across one I will definitely share it! We actually never even tried going to the campfire when it rained, so we never found out exactly what they do when that happens. I didn't even think about until you said that, actually. Would you happen to know what they do when it rains?
DaisyDuck001
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- May 5, 2006
I've read that their rainy day program is to have the singalong in a covered porch area, but the actual campfire and movie would be cancelled. I don't know if the characters would still be there. Maybe someone else reading this has been to the rainy day program and can tell us what it was like.
jandlinz
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Nov 29, 2010
It astonishes me how much your family can accomplish in and afternoon. I'm exhausted just reading it. The berry yogurt sounds delicious. I bet it would be refreshing on a hot day. That was a nice score on a free ice cream. I'm sure it didn't go to waste.
Can't wait to see trails end!!!!
Can't wait to see trails end!!!!
DisneyFreak98
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Oct 15, 2012
This morning we woke up to get all of our work done before heading to Animal Kingdom in the afternoon. We spent the morning in the RV doing that, and Mom made lunch around noon. After we ate and cleaned up the kitchen, we got ready to go! We planned on coming back to the Fort before dinnertime, so we just packed some snacks and water before heading out the door.
After waiting for our two buses and making the 10-15 minute drive to the park, we arrived a little before 1:00. We got through bag check, scanned our bands, and into the park we went!
We saw some beautiful macaws on our way in.
Our first stop today was actually going to be Rafiki's Planet Watch! We hadn't been over there in quite a while, so we figured today would be a good day to revisit one of Mom's favorite places. We headed over to the train station in Africa where we waited just a few minutes for the next train to come.
While on the train over to Rafiki's, you get a little behind the scenes look at some of the places where the animals sleep and get taken care of. Today we had the pleasure of getting a glimpse of the brand-new baby rhino! He was hanging out with his momma for some bonding time before they would send him out with her onto the safari. Because of the tall fences and movement of the train I couldn't get the little guy's picture, but I promise he was adorable!
We arrived at Rafiki's just a few minutes later, and made our way on the path to the main building. We said hi to Rafiki on our way there!
We spent some time hanging out, checking out the different small animals they house there. They had a beautiful owl on display while we were there, so we listened to the cast member talk about him for a while.
You can always meet Rafiki at his planet watch, and I hadn't met him yet, so I decided to get in line to meet him while everyone else continued to look around. There were only about 5 groups in front of me, so it didn't take that long. Rafiki is a funny little monkey, and I would totally recommend meeting him if you have the chance!
After I said goodbye to Rafiki and everyone had seen everything they wanted to check out, we headed back outside to the train station. We just missed a train when we got there, but they come every 5 or so minutes so it wasn't a big deal. We hopped on the next train and made our way back to Africa! We could see some of the construction they were doing on the new Harambe village from the train, so that was cool.
Once we were off the train and back inside the main area of the park, we began making our way to Asia for our Kali River Rapids FastPass! Once we got over there we took advantage of the free lockers they provide and packed our stuff away. We were cutting it close to our 1:00-2:00 window, but we were just in time so we scanned our FP's and got in line! Unfortunately the FP line was pretty backed up, so it ended up taking around 20-25 minutes. We didn't mind too much though, and we had a great ride! We all got wet, but none of us got drenched.
Once we got off we collected all of our belonging from the lockers and made a quick stop at the bathroom before moving on. We had a 2:15-3:15 FP for Everest, so that was our next stop! We made our way over there and got in line, which took about 10 minutes. Dad decided to ride with us today, so we don't have any pictures, but we all had a lot of fun!
After we got off we decided to head over to Dinoland next, which would be our last stop before heading back home. The first thing we did when we got there was get in line for Primeval Whirl, which took about 20 minutes. I rode with Travis and Sam, and we had a great time.
After that we decided to ride Triceratops Spin because we hadn't done that in a while and it only had a 5 minute wait. I rode with Sam and we had fun bouncing around in our dinosaur. We could see the Dinoland Dance Party going on from up there, which was cool.
Once we got off of that it was just about time for our 3:45 Dinosaur FP, so we headed over there.
We scanned our bands and headed inside, where we waited about 5-10 minutes. We had a successful journey back in time, and once we returned to the present it was time to make our way out of the park and back home.
Once we got to the bus stop we waited about 5 minutes for a bus to come. After making the ride back and catching an internal bus back home, it was about 4:30. We had some time before we wanted to head up to the Settlement for dinner at Trail's End, so we hung out at the RV for about 45 minutes. We left the RV around 5:15 and made the short walk up to Settlement!
Once we arrived, we headed inside the restaurant where we were seated at a table right away. Dad had eaten at Trail's End for breakfast once before, but other than that none of us had ever been here. We were very excited to try it out as we had heard great things about the atmosphere and food!
We really enjoyed our meal there, and we were definitely glad that we took the time to try it out. There were so many different and delicious offerings, including fried chicken, ribs, macaroni and cheese, tons of other sides, cornbread, salads, and more. They also had some awesome desserts, including an ice cream sundae bar! Everyone enjoyed everything they ate, and we just had a really nice time eating and talking with one another.
If you have the chance I would totally recommend eating at the Trail's End buffet! I know a lot of people visit the Fort for the Hoop-de-Doo Revue for the show aspect, but if you're just looking for good food they offer the same dishes plus much more at the buffet. Not to mention it's much cheaper; at $25 per person for dinner it's actually one of the least expensive buffets on property.
Once all of our bellies were full and we settled the bill, we headed outside. We decided to take some time and walk around for a while, exploring the beach and horse stables they have up there at the Settlement. It was a a beautiful evening, and it was really nice to just be able to walk around and enjoy our surroundings.
As we were walking around we saw where they house Mickey's Backyard Barbecue, which is another dining option they have at Fort Wilderness. The barbecue is a more relaxed experience that includes a character meet and greet with Mickey and friends. We never tried that out, but I've heard that it's a lot of fun!
We also checked out the Tri-Circle D Farm, which is where they keep some ponies and also the horses that work at Magic Kingdom pulling the Main Street vehicles and at the resorts pulling carriages. Some of those horses are immensely huge!
They also have a little exhibit about the horses in a barn there, so we checked that out. They had a lot of interesting information about the history of horses in Disney. They have a big cart on display there that used to be used in the parks.
It was all very cool to see, and I'm glad we had the opportunity to check it out!
Once we were done in the horse barn, we made a quick stop in the Trading Post to look around and trade some pins. Once we were done in the store we started the walk back home. By the time we got back it was about 7:30, and we decided to spend the rest of the night hanging out at the RV. The campfire movie tonight was Cinderella, but we didn't really have an interest in seeing that tonight. So, we spent the night inside together before going to bed around 10:00. Today had been an amazing day, and tomorrow we planned on taking a trip to Downtown Disney!
After waiting for our two buses and making the 10-15 minute drive to the park, we arrived a little before 1:00. We got through bag check, scanned our bands, and into the park we went!
We saw some beautiful macaws on our way in.
Our first stop today was actually going to be Rafiki's Planet Watch! We hadn't been over there in quite a while, so we figured today would be a good day to revisit one of Mom's favorite places. We headed over to the train station in Africa where we waited just a few minutes for the next train to come.
While on the train over to Rafiki's, you get a little behind the scenes look at some of the places where the animals sleep and get taken care of. Today we had the pleasure of getting a glimpse of the brand-new baby rhino! He was hanging out with his momma for some bonding time before they would send him out with her onto the safari. Because of the tall fences and movement of the train I couldn't get the little guy's picture, but I promise he was adorable!
We arrived at Rafiki's just a few minutes later, and made our way on the path to the main building. We said hi to Rafiki on our way there!
We spent some time hanging out, checking out the different small animals they house there. They had a beautiful owl on display while we were there, so we listened to the cast member talk about him for a while.
You can always meet Rafiki at his planet watch, and I hadn't met him yet, so I decided to get in line to meet him while everyone else continued to look around. There were only about 5 groups in front of me, so it didn't take that long. Rafiki is a funny little monkey, and I would totally recommend meeting him if you have the chance!
After I said goodbye to Rafiki and everyone had seen everything they wanted to check out, we headed back outside to the train station. We just missed a train when we got there, but they come every 5 or so minutes so it wasn't a big deal. We hopped on the next train and made our way back to Africa! We could see some of the construction they were doing on the new Harambe village from the train, so that was cool.
Once we were off the train and back inside the main area of the park, we began making our way to Asia for our Kali River Rapids FastPass! Once we got over there we took advantage of the free lockers they provide and packed our stuff away. We were cutting it close to our 1:00-2:00 window, but we were just in time so we scanned our FP's and got in line! Unfortunately the FP line was pretty backed up, so it ended up taking around 20-25 minutes. We didn't mind too much though, and we had a great ride! We all got wet, but none of us got drenched.
Once we got off we collected all of our belonging from the lockers and made a quick stop at the bathroom before moving on. We had a 2:15-3:15 FP for Everest, so that was our next stop! We made our way over there and got in line, which took about 10 minutes. Dad decided to ride with us today, so we don't have any pictures, but we all had a lot of fun!
After we got off we decided to head over to Dinoland next, which would be our last stop before heading back home. The first thing we did when we got there was get in line for Primeval Whirl, which took about 20 minutes. I rode with Travis and Sam, and we had a great time.
After that we decided to ride Triceratops Spin because we hadn't done that in a while and it only had a 5 minute wait. I rode with Sam and we had fun bouncing around in our dinosaur. We could see the Dinoland Dance Party going on from up there, which was cool.
Once we got off of that it was just about time for our 3:45 Dinosaur FP, so we headed over there.
We scanned our bands and headed inside, where we waited about 5-10 minutes. We had a successful journey back in time, and once we returned to the present it was time to make our way out of the park and back home.
Once we got to the bus stop we waited about 5 minutes for a bus to come. After making the ride back and catching an internal bus back home, it was about 4:30. We had some time before we wanted to head up to the Settlement for dinner at Trail's End, so we hung out at the RV for about 45 minutes. We left the RV around 5:15 and made the short walk up to Settlement!
Once we arrived, we headed inside the restaurant where we were seated at a table right away. Dad had eaten at Trail's End for breakfast once before, but other than that none of us had ever been here. We were very excited to try it out as we had heard great things about the atmosphere and food!
We really enjoyed our meal there, and we were definitely glad that we took the time to try it out. There were so many different and delicious offerings, including fried chicken, ribs, macaroni and cheese, tons of other sides, cornbread, salads, and more. They also had some awesome desserts, including an ice cream sundae bar! Everyone enjoyed everything they ate, and we just had a really nice time eating and talking with one another.
If you have the chance I would totally recommend eating at the Trail's End buffet! I know a lot of people visit the Fort for the Hoop-de-Doo Revue for the show aspect, but if you're just looking for good food they offer the same dishes plus much more at the buffet. Not to mention it's much cheaper; at $25 per person for dinner it's actually one of the least expensive buffets on property.
Once all of our bellies were full and we settled the bill, we headed outside. We decided to take some time and walk around for a while, exploring the beach and horse stables they have up there at the Settlement. It was a a beautiful evening, and it was really nice to just be able to walk around and enjoy our surroundings.
As we were walking around we saw where they house Mickey's Backyard Barbecue, which is another dining option they have at Fort Wilderness. The barbecue is a more relaxed experience that includes a character meet and greet with Mickey and friends. We never tried that out, but I've heard that it's a lot of fun!
We also checked out the Tri-Circle D Farm, which is where they keep some ponies and also the horses that work at Magic Kingdom pulling the Main Street vehicles and at the resorts pulling carriages. Some of those horses are immensely huge!
They also have a little exhibit about the horses in a barn there, so we checked that out. They had a lot of interesting information about the history of horses in Disney. They have a big cart on display there that used to be used in the parks.
It was all very cool to see, and I'm glad we had the opportunity to check it out!
Once we were done in the horse barn, we made a quick stop in the Trading Post to look around and trade some pins. Once we were done in the store we started the walk back home. By the time we got back it was about 7:30, and we decided to spend the rest of the night hanging out at the RV. The campfire movie tonight was Cinderella, but we didn't really have an interest in seeing that tonight. So, we spent the night inside together before going to bed around 10:00. Today had been an amazing day, and tomorrow we planned on taking a trip to Downtown Disney!
Last edited:
jandlinz
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Nov 29, 2010
I love your Rafiki picture. I'm sure he was a riot to meet. The owl almost looks unreal in the picture you took. Did your dad enjoy Everest? You never really said why he didn't ride. The information about the horses sounds very interesting. Did you get to meet any of them?
DisneyFreak98
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Oct 15, 2012
That sounds about right! They do the same thing for pool activities if it rains - just move it under cover. I would think that the characters would still be able to make it, but I don't know for sure.
Haha, thanks! I guess we're just used to the fast pace. Yes, the yogurt was super good!It astonishes me how much your family can accomplish in and afternoon. I'm exhausted just reading it. The berry yogurt sounds delicious. I bet it would be refreshing on a hot day. That was a nice score on a free ice cream. I'm sure it didn't go to waste.
Thank you! Yes, he enjoys Everest! He just isn't the biggest fan of roller coasters, so he doesn't like to ride it all of the time. Yes, there were a lot of horses and ponies around! The ponies hang out outside in pens, and the big guys are housed in the barn area.
Share this page
GET A DISNEY VACATION QUOTE
Dreams Unlimited Travel is committed to providing you with the very best vacation planning experience possible. Our Vacation Planners are experts and will share their honest advice to help you have a magical vacation.
Let us help you with your next Disney Vacation!
Dreams Unlimited Travel is committed to providing you with the very best vacation planning experience possible. Our Vacation Planners are experts and will share their honest advice to help you have a magical vacation.
Let us help you with your next Disney Vacation!
