Me 49, Disney nut
DH 49 (almost 50), enjoys WDW
DD 18, Disney nut
DF 18, hasnt been in a few years
Pre-Trip
Our 2003 trip went by in a flash (9 nights at Ft Wilderness) so DH and I decided that we needed to stay longer. Our DS, a freshman at college had spring break earlier in March so he wouldnt be going. Our DD is a high school senior and requested to bring a friend. My DH and I would be driving down from SW Mich on March 26th and the girls would fly down March 31st after school. Our plan would be to leave on Friday, April 9th so we could be home for Easter and my DHs 50th birthday (dont laugh, mine is later this year).
Sometime last year, I purchased 4 7-day PHP tickets for $315 each. Our intention was to use just 3 days in the parks and 1 or 2 plus for water parks. The rest of the ticket could be used for our March 2005 trip (campsite already booked!). I also purchased 4 Pleasure Island tickets for $16 each, but we ended up not going to PI and will save the tickets for next year.
A month prior to our trip, my DH and I had visited an RV show and decided to trade our 10-year old camper in for a new, larger one. Besides the size, the big difference was that it was equipped with electric brakes, refrigerator and furnace! Yeh!!
For Christmas, we had gotten a nice digital camera so I was looking forward to snapping lots and lots of pictures to show back home.
Both DH and I were a bit nervous about leaving the kids on their own for a few days especially, DS because I thought he would be lonesome (he lives at home while attending the local university plus working part time).
Because we dont have national service on our cell phone, we purchased a phone card at Sams Club that had 800 minutes (3.5 cents per minute) so felt we were all set to check up on them both. When using the card from a pay phone, we were charged 15 minutes (52.5 cents) + talk time. Not a bad deal and it worked out well because of the pay phone at the Comfort Station. I think we ended up with 150 minutes left on the card.
Friday, March 26, 2004 TRAVEL DAY
The night before, DH starts freaking out about leaving the kids that we were planning to leave too early in the morning etc. DD promises to get up with us to help move the cars and hook up the trailer. After the alarm went off, and since we had packed everything the night before, all we had to do was dress, hook up and go. DD was a BIG, BIG help in everything going smoothly. I drove the camper around the block to make sure everything was connected, etc. This was our first time with electric brakes (plus the brakes being new) so we needed to make a few adjustments but got to where we were comfortable with them.
We left at 3:30 am and got to Valdosta, GA about 9:00 pm. We spent the night at the Fairfield Inn.
Saturday, March 27, 2004 ARRIVAL & SET-UP
We got back on the road at 7:25 am and arrived at Ft. Wilderness at 11:00 am. Total drive time from SW Michigan was 21 hours and 1,275 miles. It was great to be home.
Upon check-in we were told that we would be on the 1500 loop per our request but that our site wasnt ready yet. We parked the camper and van in the parking lot and decided to walk back to the 1500 loop to see what was available. Once there, we saw lots of sites and the guy was cleaning the different spots. He was nice enough to call and try to find out which spot would be ours they wouldnt tell him but indicated that if the number didnt end in a zero, it wasnt ours. This told us our spot was 1520 and he said he would clean it next and then report it to the front so we could proceed to set up.
We walked over to the Meadows Trading Post to look around and then walked up to the front, officially got our site number and then drove to our spot.
Well the camper was new and some of the things were a little different than our old one. It took just slightly longer to put up the awning and we werent sure we knew how to work the fridge. There didnt appear to be any motor humming or fan running. We proceeded to set up but I had to stop and put my head down a few times because I was getting faint in all that nice Florida heat. It was pretty warm and we hadnt eaten in a while.
We finally got most things set up and then ate. We were planning on attending 4:00 pm mass in Kissimmee so needed to leave about 3:15. We followed the instructions that took us through a mess of a construction area (making note of the Wal-Mart and Sams Club locations). After church we gassed up and then did some damage at Wal-Mart. Because of the larger camper, I didnt want to load it down with extra water, etc so planned to stock up once we got there.
Once back at the campsite we decided to ride Disney transportation to the ESPN Club so we could eat and watch the NCAA games on TV. BOTH WERE BAD IDEAS!! We took the bus to the Marina, ferry to Magic Kingdom, bus to Boardwalk. This took way too long. We should have driven ourselves. Once there, we find that ESPN and everything else is PACKED!!! We then decided to head back to the campground. Bus to ferry, ferry to Crocketts Tavern. We ordered a pizza w/ sausage & mushroom ($16) and 2 beers ($3.50 & $4.00) = + tax was $25.02 + tip = grand total $30.
Just a note about Crocketts Tavern they seem to be doing good business but dont have the staff to keep the tables clear or wait on the customers like they should. The staff that are there are working their butts off. Also, they seemed to be seating people from the buffet in the Tavern as well, which was not done in previous years.
DH 49 (almost 50), enjoys WDW
DD 18, Disney nut
DF 18, hasnt been in a few years
Pre-Trip
Our 2003 trip went by in a flash (9 nights at Ft Wilderness) so DH and I decided that we needed to stay longer. Our DS, a freshman at college had spring break earlier in March so he wouldnt be going. Our DD is a high school senior and requested to bring a friend. My DH and I would be driving down from SW Mich on March 26th and the girls would fly down March 31st after school. Our plan would be to leave on Friday, April 9th so we could be home for Easter and my DHs 50th birthday (dont laugh, mine is later this year).
Sometime last year, I purchased 4 7-day PHP tickets for $315 each. Our intention was to use just 3 days in the parks and 1 or 2 plus for water parks. The rest of the ticket could be used for our March 2005 trip (campsite already booked!). I also purchased 4 Pleasure Island tickets for $16 each, but we ended up not going to PI and will save the tickets for next year.
A month prior to our trip, my DH and I had visited an RV show and decided to trade our 10-year old camper in for a new, larger one. Besides the size, the big difference was that it was equipped with electric brakes, refrigerator and furnace! Yeh!!
For Christmas, we had gotten a nice digital camera so I was looking forward to snapping lots and lots of pictures to show back home.
Both DH and I were a bit nervous about leaving the kids on their own for a few days especially, DS because I thought he would be lonesome (he lives at home while attending the local university plus working part time).
Because we dont have national service on our cell phone, we purchased a phone card at Sams Club that had 800 minutes (3.5 cents per minute) so felt we were all set to check up on them both. When using the card from a pay phone, we were charged 15 minutes (52.5 cents) + talk time. Not a bad deal and it worked out well because of the pay phone at the Comfort Station. I think we ended up with 150 minutes left on the card.
Friday, March 26, 2004 TRAVEL DAY
The night before, DH starts freaking out about leaving the kids that we were planning to leave too early in the morning etc. DD promises to get up with us to help move the cars and hook up the trailer. After the alarm went off, and since we had packed everything the night before, all we had to do was dress, hook up and go. DD was a BIG, BIG help in everything going smoothly. I drove the camper around the block to make sure everything was connected, etc. This was our first time with electric brakes (plus the brakes being new) so we needed to make a few adjustments but got to where we were comfortable with them.
We left at 3:30 am and got to Valdosta, GA about 9:00 pm. We spent the night at the Fairfield Inn.
Saturday, March 27, 2004 ARRIVAL & SET-UP
We got back on the road at 7:25 am and arrived at Ft. Wilderness at 11:00 am. Total drive time from SW Michigan was 21 hours and 1,275 miles. It was great to be home.
Upon check-in we were told that we would be on the 1500 loop per our request but that our site wasnt ready yet. We parked the camper and van in the parking lot and decided to walk back to the 1500 loop to see what was available. Once there, we saw lots of sites and the guy was cleaning the different spots. He was nice enough to call and try to find out which spot would be ours they wouldnt tell him but indicated that if the number didnt end in a zero, it wasnt ours. This told us our spot was 1520 and he said he would clean it next and then report it to the front so we could proceed to set up.
We walked over to the Meadows Trading Post to look around and then walked up to the front, officially got our site number and then drove to our spot.
Well the camper was new and some of the things were a little different than our old one. It took just slightly longer to put up the awning and we werent sure we knew how to work the fridge. There didnt appear to be any motor humming or fan running. We proceeded to set up but I had to stop and put my head down a few times because I was getting faint in all that nice Florida heat. It was pretty warm and we hadnt eaten in a while.
We finally got most things set up and then ate. We were planning on attending 4:00 pm mass in Kissimmee so needed to leave about 3:15. We followed the instructions that took us through a mess of a construction area (making note of the Wal-Mart and Sams Club locations). After church we gassed up and then did some damage at Wal-Mart. Because of the larger camper, I didnt want to load it down with extra water, etc so planned to stock up once we got there.
Once back at the campsite we decided to ride Disney transportation to the ESPN Club so we could eat and watch the NCAA games on TV. BOTH WERE BAD IDEAS!! We took the bus to the Marina, ferry to Magic Kingdom, bus to Boardwalk. This took way too long. We should have driven ourselves. Once there, we find that ESPN and everything else is PACKED!!! We then decided to head back to the campground. Bus to ferry, ferry to Crocketts Tavern. We ordered a pizza w/ sausage & mushroom ($16) and 2 beers ($3.50 & $4.00) = + tax was $25.02 + tip = grand total $30.
Just a note about Crocketts Tavern they seem to be doing good business but dont have the staff to keep the tables clear or wait on the customers like they should. The staff that are there are working their butts off. Also, they seemed to be seating people from the buffet in the Tavern as well, which was not done in previous years.
