Cabin Fever

[justkem]

Okay...

So I did the math, and I crunched and I crunched, and I took the plunge today. My goal was to get my daughter to Disney before she turned 10, and this is the last year for it. I just booked 8 nights on the promo rates-- vacation time is scheduled, and we are driving all night to get there from Illinois in one shot.

So who has first day recovery ideas for the road trip?

This will be my first time to Disney as an adult (the last times that I went were 8 night stays at the Polynesian, a 7 night stay at the Contemporary, and a 6 night stay at villas way back in the day when River Country was all there was)... I'm older and wiser, and not as rich as my parents were.

I'm thinking rollerblading... get out and stretch a bit. Are the trails too bumpy for that?

We're only doing Disney once, and I want to do it right without killing the bank. Plan to do a lot of browsing here!

 

[Lil' Lisa]

Okay...

So I did the math, and I crunched and I crunched, and I took the plunge today. My goal was to get my daughter to Disney before she turned 10, and this is the last year for it. I just booked 8 nights on the promo rates-- vacation time is scheduled, and we are driving all night to get there from Illinois in one shot.

So who has first day recovery ideas for the road trip?

This will be my first time to Disney as an adult (the last times that I went were 8 night stays at the Polynesian, a 7 night stay at the Contemporary, and a 6 night stay at villas way back in the day when River Country was all there was)... I'm older and wiser, and not as rich as my parents were.

I'm thinking rollerblading... get out and stretch a bit. Are the trails too bumpy for that?

We're only doing Disney once, and I want to do it right without killing the bank. Plan to do a lot of browsing here!

Congrats on your ressies! You're going to have a great time! If you are looking for some low key things to do on day one you could relax by the pool, rent bikes, canoes or kayaks. If you are renting a golf cart you could go looping. I could go on and on and I am sure that there will be others who will have some great ideas as well. There are tons of things to do at the Fort without even setting foot in the parks. Be sure to check out the Fort FAQ thread. There is a lot of great info in there. It is a sticky near the top of the thread list page.

 

[plutospup]

Check out either, or both of the FW pools. DD will probably enjoy the new slide at the Meadows pools, and the activities that take place there. In the evening there is the Campfire Movie & Singalong. Both of the above are free.

You can always go canoeing, bike riding, or walking the trail to WL. The SeaRaycer boats are fun to take out onto Bay Lake and/or the Seven Seas Lagoon. Horseback riding can be fun as well. A fun evening can always be had at the HoopDeDoo Review.

Of course you can always go fishing in the canals, or lake, too!

 

[retired and happy]

I don't know how far you will have to drive, but we wish you a safe trip. The main "trails" are paved sidewalks and roads, even into the individual campsites, so I would think rollerblading would work. Just take care to watch for others who may be walking, biking, or may have strollers or wheelchairs.

Are you tenting, or have a trailer or motorhome?

Again, have a safe trip.

 

[justkem]

I confess... I've spent the last 4 hours reading through threads here. I may have an addiction. The drive is going to be roughly 18 hours with stops to eat from the cooler. We're leaving central Illinois Friday night around 8:00 pm, and planning to be checked in by 5:00 pm Saturday night. I'm kind of a veteran at this sort of thing, though. For my Grandma's 80th birthday, I drove my sisters (15 and 19 at the time) and my daughter (5, back then) from Illinois to Colorado, picked up Grandma in Denver, and then headed up to a condo in Breckenridge, and "cooked" an excellent dinner of pre-frozen ziplock bags full of slow cooker chili and cornbread... no sleep till the dishes were done, and then hitting Peak 8 the next day. So, yeah. I'm crazy like that. We did a 3,000 + mile road trip last year.

We're staying at the cabins for 8 nights. My bf has severe PTSD/social anxiety with severe hydrophobia from a technically fatal drowning incident, so the planning process has some elements of crazy to it. He's a heavy smoker who really, really doesn't like crowds... let's take him to a place with lots of crowds where all the smokers have to gather in corners of shame that may or may not be within a 5 or 6 minute walk of the room, in the rain? Heh... this would be me saying not on my watch.

I priced the timeshares (I had an offer for Wyndham Bonnett Creek for $830, guest passes included, for 7 nights), but the more I thought about it, the more I realized I simply didn't want the hassle of trying to cram into a bus-- or worse, miss it. We'll have our own car, but I expect that much of the trip is going to be me and my 9-year-old kickin it in the park just us girls while he watches movies or drives off to the beach. I was shocked when he said he wanted to come into the parks with us... this from a guy who has trouble going to a grocery store he's unfamiliar with!

No golf carts... my splurge was on the cabins, and we'll tough it out with the busses and a laid back attitude towards time spent waiting. Have iPhone, will queue.

Rambling here. Bottom line is, the discounts made it close enough to the costs of doing a hotel in Downtown Disney (the only other place with transportation that could fill the gaps if the bf needs downtime and we're in the parks till close)... fill in parking and food costs, and with some frugal meal planning, we'll be coming out ahead on this!

As far as Hoop Dee Doo goes, I can't book that unless I have it in the bank, and right now, I'm still making up savings from the extra cost on the rooms. I think I'd rather have spending cash in hand. We're doing Disney luxuriously, but still on the cheap.

 

[plutospup]

Since you will have your own car you might want to consider driving to the parks (except MK) on your own, instead of waiting for the busses. For us, one of the cabin's advantages is that you park your car right at your cabin. WDW roads are well marked, and it's easy to drive to the parks. The exception is MK. If you drive you go to the MK parking lot, take a tram to the TTC, and from there you take a boat or monorail to MK. From the cabins we take a bus that drops off near HDDR, and then take the boat from FW to MK.

 

[justkem]

Yeah, I was thinking of that. MK kind of makes me nervous... it sticks a barrier of public transportation (the boat launch is just completely out of the question for bf) between us and the car... and if I remember right, there's a ride over water from the TTC to the MK via monorail to boot? We only had a car once when I was younger, and it was long enough ago that I'm kind of fuzzy on it. No biggy for me and my daughter, but I'm a little worried about the return trip to the parking lot for bf after spending time in the crowds. Any kind of barrier requiring public transportation between him and "safety" (i.e., our car) puts some additional stress on the situation, and while he's amazing at handling it all, I still worry. I expect he's probably going to be spending a maximum of 3 hours at a time in the parks. He's not sure about buses and monorails. We did a streetcar in Memphis last year, but that's hardly the sardine scenario I remember from park closing!

When it's just me and DD, we'll be taking the buses and boat launches or getting dropped off wherever it is we'll be for the day. It looks like it will take a little studying to learn the quickest ways to do things, but I've got plenty of time to obsessively study... err... plan. That's what I meant.

 

[retired and happy]

You can take either the ferry boat OR the monorail from TTC to MK. Of course the ferry is quite large and usually only crowded at opening and closing times.

 

[justkem]

The problem with the ferry is it involves being on a boat AND being in an enclosed space with a crowd. BFF (Boyfriend For Forever) drowned in the Navy while simultaneously sustaining a skull crushing injury, and 10 years later is still unable to take a shower without blinding panic attacks. Being on a boat? Not gonna happen. Being on a monorail over water? Scary for him. He can handle "water in nature" (i.e., the gulf, waterfalls, places where it moves), but if it's on a flat surface--especially tile, or he's over it, he's terrified. Winnie the Pooh and Pirates are both off limits due to scare factor!

Couple that with being in a confined space with crowds, and I'm not sure MK is an option for him...

I figure I'll save it for last, and hopefully CM's can come up with some alternative that will let him check out the parts of MK that he can enjoy. I expect most of his time in Disney is going to be EPCOT and AK.

 

[bama_ed]

You can bus or monorail to the Contemporary Resort from TTC and then walk to the Magic Kingdom. It's maybe a 10-minute walk but there's a paved sidewalk. And I thought busses went to the MK entrance as well.

Bama ED

 

[justkem]

I didn't realize that was an option... walking to the Contemporary after the parks close and just hanging out in the lobby with a drink while the crowds thin down does sound like a *much* better option. I bet I could find out when the last monorail stops through, and we could just grab that one out to the TTC for the parking lot. *rushes over to go research beverage procurement options at the Contemporary after the park closes*