Campers Trip Report 01/10-16/10) via pictures!

[campers]

We are home from our wonderful week at Fort Wilderness. Thanks to all of you who have posted before me...it was so helpful in planning our trip.
A little background: I'm Florida born and raised (22 years) and have spent the last 10 years in Western New York. My husband and I have been avid campers for the past 12 years. DD (age 2) has now completed her 3rd camping trip!
We arrived at the Fort on Jan 10, 2010 and left on Jan 16th. It was cold, even by Buffalo standards when we arrived. Thankfully, I'm a planner so we were well prepared for the cold. We purchased a tall ceramic heater (the lasko oscillating with thermastat) and an electric blanket as well. Even though the temps were around 24 degree's Sunday night, we actually got hot and needed to turn the heat down in our tent!
Our home for the week was site 1515.

check out the blue skies!

orange tree on our site

our site was really private

DD loved collecting pine cones and shells at the site

Our official tent sign:

We went to the campfire sing-a-long twice. The first time it was still cold out so we just about had the place to ourselves.

The sing-a-long on a warmer night:

DD hanging out after her nap

Fireworks from Fort Wilderness Marina and Beach...highly recommend for a relaxing evening...no crowds and you are in bed within minutes of the show ending...great for traveling with a two year old who goes to bed at 8pm!!!

We loved Fort Wilderness!

 

[campers]

We arrived at the Fort around 11:30 and set up camp. After DD nap, we went to Epcot for a little while. We were tired after the long drive, so we didn't have a lot of energy to stay long. DD loved "Nemo" and we rode it 3 times in a row. We also did the boat ride "Living with the Land". After a quick bite to eat at the Electric Umbrella, we turned in for the night.

 

[campers]

Animal Kingdom. Frost was covering the ground and the van said it was 24 degree's out. It was cold, but tolerable with our winter gear on. We were also toasty in our tent thanks to having electric at our site.

DD loved the safari. Here is the look on her face when we saw the giraffes

the gyser was frozen over on the safari ride

No worries about the cold weather...the sun was shining!

dd meeting Goofy and Pluto. Love the smile!

we spent a lot of time here!

We spent the afternoon at Downtown Disney (after naps!). Notice we don't have on jackets anymore!

 

[OK GRUMPY]

I love it!

 

[campers]

Magic Kingdom. It was still cold, but only first thing in the morning. We only needed our fleece liners from our coats. By 10 am or so, we didn't need coats at all.

waiting for the train to come so Mickey could open the park

 

[campers]

Hollywood Studios. We spent the morning at Hollywood Studios and then went to visit my mom and her fiance. They were able to come for a few days since they live in FL. They stayed at one of the All Star resorts. They had planned on coming at the beginning of our trip but changed plans as the cold weather stuck around!

meeting Daisy Duck

we loved Toy Story...it was the only "grown up" ride we did!

Playhouse Disney-Live on Stage

 

[campers]

Magic Kingdom with the grandparents then we took them to the campfire sing-a-long and fireworks at the beach.

 

[campers]

Animal Kingdom. When we went on Monday, it was 24 degrees. On Friday, it was 74 degrees! Talk about a difference in the temp! DD naps were off schedule on this day since we spent as much time as possible with the grandparents. We paid dearly for this later in the evening. Around 5pm for no reason (except pure exhaustion!) DD completely lost it. She started screaming bloody murder and would not stop. We were at our campsite during this time, breaking down our camp. It got so bad, we literally thru her into the van without pants or shoes on...just to get out! We had new neighbors moving in across the street from us who probably thought they were in for a rough time! Thankfully, she calmed down when we got to downtown disney! We stayed there until bedtime since most of our things were packed away. Got back to the tent around 8 pm and DD went right to sleep with no problems. I guess one major melt down is okay for such a busy trip...we've never seen her like that and hope never to again!!!

DD on the lookout for more animals!

 

[campers]

What a sad day! Since we pre-packed the van the afternoon before, all we had left to pack was our bedding and tent. We were on the road by 9am. It was a sad day indeed, to leave the Fort. We will be back!

 

[3gr8kids]

Thanks for sharing your trip report - it sounds like you had a great time (despite the chilly weather)!

 

[suzicute20]

Wonderful pictures. Glad you had such a good time even though it was really cold.

 

[Born 2 Fish]

Thank you so much for the trip report and pics. Great pics , ya'll are a lovely family.
Sorry about it being cold at Disney, but on the positive side, ya'll got to experience things that rarely happen there, like the froze gizer the frost on the ground that look'd like snow,etc. (and record temps!)
So glad ya'll hadda good time.
Only, I just cant shake the feeling that your hold'n out on us with some pics???

 

[DaveInTN]

Great report! Thank you for sharing.

That picture of the frost and frozen water at AK was unbelievable. You sure you didn't take that at the Buffalo zoo?

And, it wouldn't be a Disney trip without a toddler meltdown! At least not for my family. They get so tired, and then BAM! But it seems to end as quickly as it begins, and life goes on.

Glad you had a good trip!

 

[sshane]

We did almost the same trip at the same time with our 2 1/2 year old! (minus the tents....we did a motorhome, you are a brave soul!) Your pictures are very similar to ours and we even had my parents along for a few days as well. It was a great trip report and nice to see others braving the cold and still being able to enjoy Disneyworld! Glad you had a nice trip and thanks for sharing!

 

[campers]

Thank you so much for the trip report and pics. Great pics , ya'll are a lovely family.
Sorry about it being cold at Disney, but on the positive side, ya'll got to experience things that rarely happen there, like the froze gizer the frost on the ground that look'd like snow,etc. (and record temps!)
So glad ya'll hadda good time.
Only, I just cant shake the feeling that your hold'n out on us with some pics???

You got me! I would have crashed the disboards had I posted all my pics!!! DH and I officially decided we would rather be at Disney with record cold temps and sunshine than warm weather and rain...The first two days we had the parks all to ourselves. We waited for nothing and got to spend tons of time with the characters. Plus, our coats were always off by the afternoon. It also helped knowing that my father in law reported that it was -3 degrees one of the days we were gone...by golly, 24 was a heat wave! Can't wait for our next trip...you can bet it will be in January again!

 

[campers]

Great report! Thank you for sharing.

That picture of the frost and frozen water at AK was unbelievable. You sure you didn't take that at the Buffalo zoo?

And, it wouldn't be a Disney trip without a toddler meltdown! At least not for my family. They get so tired, and then BAM! But it seems to end as quickly as it begins, and life goes on.

Glad you had a good trip!

AK felt like the Buffalo zoo that day! Hum, maybe that's why the Fort felt so much like home!

 

[campers]

We did almost the same trip at the same time with our 2 1/2 year old! (minus the tents....we did a motorhome, you are a brave soul!) Your pictures are very similar to ours and we even had my parents along for a few days as well. It was a great trip report and nice to see others braving the cold and still being able to enjoy Disneyworld! Glad you had a nice trip and thanks for sharing!

looks like you left the Fort the day we arrived...other than that (and the motorhome!) it sounds like the we took the same trip! I'm glad that you still had a great time as well.

 

[disney4dan]

Love the trip report, and I remember those days of camping with the kids so young. I miss some of it, but really enjoy the fact that they are older now. Here's hoping you have many more happy memories of the Fort and WDW.


Thanks for sharing the photos and memories.

 

[juligrl]

Great trip report! Nice pictures - thanks for sharing!

 

[indimom3]

Your daughter is adorable! And you take great pics!