Anniversary trip - All finished - LOTS of pics

[olbear]

Helllo there campers!

We had such a wonderful time this past week. I remember at the beginning I was praying please slow down, please slow down. I so wanted time to just go slow and stretch out the week. But as you know, that never happens. It just flew by and Aug. 5 got there way too fast. There was so much I wanted to do and just couldn't get it in for one reson or another. Some because time got away, and also with heat being as it was. We jsut didn't so quite as much. By 2PM in the afternoon we were just spent!

This was our 23rd anniversary wedding trip. We met on a singles trip to Disney in AUg of 1983 and honeymooned at Disney July 1984. And we spend just about every anniversary at Disney. Yes, we do love it and never get tired of it. Hubby was saying yesterday on the way home, that yes, we could go somewhere like Gatlinburg again. But each time we went it was always the same stuff. At WDW things are always changing and we never seem to get tired of it. And you can never get everything in you want to do. So there's always a reason to go back.

We met some really nice and friendly folk at the Fort. Both guests and CM's.
Our neigbors Griff and Leighann were the best. Their son Colson was a joy. Hubby even helped Griff while they were at the Parks one day. I believe it was tuesday. Griff's water line busted, so Fred turned it off. When they got back to site, Fred told him what had happened, Since they didn't have a car, Fred took Griff to Wal-Mart to get what he needed to fix it.

So here's how our first day went:

We arrived and checked in at 10:30 AM on Sunday July 30th. Our site wasn't ready though. So we parked our SUV and pop-up. Then we hopped on the bus and made our way to loop 300. We knew we'd be in this loop, but they won't tell you the site # until it is ready. We checked out the empty sites and found 2 we liked. Good shade and close walk to comfort station. #'s 350 and 317. I called up front, and they said we could have 317 and could move right in. So off we went to get pop-up.

We had fun setting everything up. It was alot of work, but still alot of fun. It was alot more work getting it all packed up!! Anyway, here are some pictures of our site. Enjoy!!

I love this one. You can see our little boy Paco!

Here's another shot with our car. This site was a perfect size and a good amount of shade. It also had a little path going to the dog walk and canal at the back to take Paco for a walk, and hubby did some fishing on the canal as well.

Here's a good close up of the front of our pop-up. See I told you I'd have Pooh all over the place. The Pooh garden statue I got right before we left. On sale at Disney Shopping for $12.99!! Oh and the pop-up gizmo's..the BEST!! made such a difference!

The next 3 pictures are of our lamp posts. These were so mcuh fun and gots lots of attention!

So, getting pop-up in was no problem. Hubby is a tractor/trailer driver for Salem Frieght, so I felt hubby would do fine. The loop can be pretty tight. But hubby did great and only did 1 pull up, and that was because he wanted it a bit straighter. He done good!! It took us about an hour to get everything set up. It was fun putting up our decorations and lamp posts. We heard lots of compliments during this week. Thursday night though, our Mickey lamp lost and ear. The rain got to our silicone we used I guess. By the next morning he was totally "earless"

We then headed for super Wal-Mart for some shopping. I did learn one thing this week. Don't bother with buying breakfast items. We found ourselves getting up and at em, and not stopping to fix breakfast. We mostly would just grab a piece of fruit. Anyway, back to our Wal-Mart trip. All I can say is WOW!! This is one busy store. And stuff was flying off the shelves. Some things they were totally out of. Before we left we stopped at the in store Sonic for a quick bite. Nothing to write home about.

Back to the Fort. We stopped and picked up Paco from the Kennel. Boy was he happy to see us!! We had a snack and watched TV. We went to bed a little after 10PM. We had to get up early the next morning for a tour.

Next post day 2, Magic behind the Steam Trains

Blessings,
Winnie

 

[jsmla]

Sounds like a lovely trip! Can't wait to hear the rest. We'll be celebrating our 27th anniversary at Ft. Wilderness in January.

Jennifer

 

[Live4FW]

Hey, we were in site 317 last time. It really is a great site. Especially if you have a dog. I would sit out in the early am and often see deer across the canal. Thanks for the report!

 

[tellnotails]

great job keep it coming.....

 

[olbear]

I had just finished typing this day 2 report, downloaded pics, was doing the last pictures about to finish and was knocked offline...ARRRRGGGGHHHHH!!
So here we go again..fingers crossed!

So we're up and at em early because we have to be at MK Entrance no later the 7:15 AM. That will turn out to be a joke. You'll see why. So hubby walks the pup while I go to CS to shower. The comfort stations are so very very nice. And I never had a problem with getting a shower stall ever. So I get done and it's hubby's turn. We don our anniversary T-shirts and buttons, load up the pup and head for Kennel for MK at TTC. Before we left for vacation I had called and since Kennel wasn't opened until 8AM, they gave me the number to call security to come let us in. I called at 6AM as we left our site. They said they send someone over to meet us. We got there pretty quick and waited until 6:20AM. Nothing. So I call again, and oops someone forgot to send someone. Okie dokie! SO security shows up at about 6:40AM. He lets me in, I sign Paco in and put him in kennel with his blankie, teddie bear and water. On our way out of kennel, I mentioned to security fella about having to make a second call and we're on a time contraint, and would he mind dropping us off at MK. He hesitates, then says, hop in. So we do!!

He drops us off at walk way to MK from Contemporary. We walk over and get through security easy since no one is there! We get to entrance and meet Dan our tour guide at about 7:10AM. We made it.
Hubby takes a picture of me doing my first pin trade of the week.

Then a guest on the tour is kind enough to take a pictures of Fred and I

Slowly out of our group of 12, 8 of us are on time at 7:30AM. A family of four from Holland are late. Dan gets a call that they are stuck on monorail and will be there shortly. They arrive at 7:40AM. Dan gets us together and explains that part of the rails are being worked on in Frontier Land. So we won't be able to take a ride around the entire track. However we will do the unusual, and take the trains "Backwards" to the round house. So we go upstairs in the train station to get onboard the "Lilly Belle". Here's her picture

Before we board, Dan asks for a volunteer to which my husband raises his hand. I am very surprised but tickled. He will be our volunteer conductor to get us off on our ride to the round house.
Here he is in place

And here he is giving the signal

Off we go! On our way, Dan is sharing lots of stories and info and answering questions from guests. We arrive at the round house and back in next to the "Roy Disney" engine. We then go foward and get off.
Here is a picture of the "Roy"

We then walk over to the "Walter E Disney" engine. It is so very pretty and impressive as well. Dan so loves these engines and it is so obvious as he shares his knowledge and love of the beauties
Here he is

We then are allowed to get on the engine and take a look as he continues to talk to us. This is one HOT place!! I don't know how they do it in the summer months. I'm sure they love it in the winter.
Here's a picture of all the gadgets and gizmo's. You know what those are right?

Here are some more photo's, one of Fred and Dan as he answers some questions from Fred and some of "Walt's" engine

This one is my favorite shot I got of "Walt's" engine. Check out the mono-rail in upper left corner

We then all board "Walt's" engine and head back to Main Street Station. Here is "Walt" blowing off some steam

We make a stop in Toon Town and take some more photo's. Here is one of us and Dan in front of "Walt" I love this picture

When we arrive back at the Station, we all go upstairs and sit down while Dan shares some more history and info on the trains and Walt's love for them. Including the Small train Walt built in his own back yard in California. At then end we are all presented with a card and a special pin to commemorate our tour. It is about 10:30AM. Here is a picture:

I'm gonna post this quick before I loose it again.

 

[tellnotails]

ya dun good......

awesome pics.......

I like that one with the mono-rail tooooooo......

 

[olbear]

Hello again,

To continue day 2:
After doing the tour, we went to City Hall to find out if Scoop Sanderson would be on Main Street. To my dismay, the CM told me I had just missed him and he would not be out the rest of the day. I went ahead and made a quick ressie for lunch at the Plaza. A great place for soup salad and sandwiches.

When leaving City Hall, I found hubby who pointed out Scoop. We quickly made our way across the town Hall plaza and waited to see him. He was with some other Street entertainers and saw us. He came right over and gave us a big ol hug. He then took my hand and pulled me in to the action and we danced a lil ol jig. Then they kept on coming with the music and songs and we just had a good ol time.

Here are some pics:

Mr. Fireman decided he wanted a turn with the ol gal. Scoop Sanderson is on my right. he is the Main Street Reporter and what I would consider the "Pin Ambassador" of WDW. He used to have "Pin Talks" at Expo Hall, but the entertainment division kinda pushed him out of where he was doing his seminars. Much to the dismay of us pin pals. We still love him a bunch and make a point to see him every trip. He still loves to do his pin games on Main Street. SO if you see him, do stop and say hi and play a game or 2. He may even have his dogs with him, Butter Scotch and Licorice.

We are still singing along and having fun

We even got a conga line going. It was lots if fun. But hey, we have to get to lunch!!

We had a wonderful cool AC lunch at the plaza. Always nice. We then decided it was just to hot to stay in the parks, so we made our way to the entrance to go back to the Fort. But not before we stoppped in the bakery for a fresh baked cookie.

Oh I wanted to share these next pictures as well.

This one was taken at the beginning of our Train tour at about 7:40 AM. There are only a few people making their way to breakfast at the Crystal Palace.
Here is one of Fred and I at that time.

This next picture was taken right after our tour was over at 10:30AM. What a difference 3 hours make!! What a crowd!

First we have to go by Kennel to get Paco. The CM, Roy is thinking of charging me for an overnight stay, and is taking the long route to get around to sharing this with me. I cut him off, and cut to the chase of what I think he is trying to say. That because I dropped him off before opening they normally charge you for over night. He tells me I am correct. I tell him of my conversation and info I was given before leaving on vacation. I let him know that nothing was said about this. I also let him know that we only dropped him off an hour and a half earlier than opening, and it was shown on the paper work I had signed. Also that since we were picking him up at about 12:30PM, which was only a total of six hours, I kindly but firmly told him I was not paying for the over night charge. He rather reluctantly said that was fine. and we were on our way.

So we get back to our pop-up and decide to chill out for a couple hours. We take a nap and enjoy our AC. Here is a picture of Fred and our boy relaxing.

Ok so it's about 5PM when we wake up all refreshed. So we get ready for dinner at Cape May. This is our favorite place to dine on property. It was wonderful as always. We had a wonderful waitress as well. I had ordered a custom cake to celebrate our anniversary. Our waitress brings it out with some others CM's and sings Happy Anniversary to us.

The cake was really yummy. It was yellow cake with white chocolate mousse and fresh raspberries in between covered with butter creme icing. Here are pics:

So that's pretty much it for day 2. It was a wonderful official start to our vacation. Next post will be day 3. No pic for that day. But boy was it interesting. I'll share later.

Blessings everyone,
Winnie

 

[proudmomof4]

Thanks for sharing, love the pics and the details...keep them coming!

 

[olbear]

Well, day 3...how do I tell you about this day? HHmmmmmm....
It was an interesting day. I had invited an old friend of mine to join us for the day with her 2 kids. I have known this lady since 7th grade or 36 years. Yup, a long time. She's always been a bit of a feather head, but I've always loved her to death. She is very sweet and has a heart as big as all out doors. That's the positive comments. Now for the fun stuff.

Her husband left her over 6 years ago, he was a bad boy. That's putting it nicely. And all this poor girl wanted was to be a mom. But she could not carry a baby to full term. It was indeed rough on her. So hubby eventually left, and she decided to become a mom on her own. And she did! She adopted first a boy and then a year later a girl.

Now back to day 3 tuesday. We waited for her to show up at the front so we could go get her and the kids. We finally got the call, and as usual, she was running late. She's always been thus. So yes, we fully expected it. Now I had invited her to spend the night if we got to having too much fun and it got too late to drive home from being tired. That afternoon heat was a killer. So she's shows up with a car full of stuff, looking like she's gonna spend the week!! Well, she wound up staying 2 nights. Dummy me, after she commented about wanting to stay 2 nights, and that she'd just get a cheap hotel off sight for the second night. I said, oh no! You're welcome to stay with us. Someone kick me now please. I offered this before spending an entire day with them. Big mistake.

This vacation was about rest, relaxation and no stress... this turned out to be a challenge with her kids. All they did was fight. By the way, he is 6, she is 5. They antagonized each other constantly, and all my friend did was count to 3 over and over!! We took them to the pool to swim and that was probably the best part of their visit. They splashed and played, it was actually fun. Other than that it was world war 3 and lots of counting.

In the pop-up the kids kept playing with the zippers. I asked them repeatedly not to touch the zippers. That was like saying "sick em" to a bull dog. They nosed around in everything, and were never told no or stop or don't do that by mom. I said something usually. And when I did, she apologized saying they're just kids. This is something I heard alot from her. That first night while hubby and I were walking our dog around the loop, I told him, I so regretted inviting her for the 2nd night, that they were driving me crazy. He felt the same.

Now day 4 - So we had originally invited them to hang with us wednesday and have dinner at Boma's. Well, after my experiences the first day, I thought, no way!! So I wiggled out of it. She said she would take kids to MK and we'd see them later that evening. okie dokie!! So hubby and I headed for breakfast at McDonald's and then AK. We had shown her how to lock up the pop-up and warned her the lock could be stubborn if you didn't close door tight. We even showed her.

So we come back to pop-up after enjoying AK and the dinner at Boma.
Guess who was there? Yup, her and the kids. They never went to MK. The reason, she couldn't get door to lock. We walked in the camper and there was mud all over the floor. There was food sitting out and left over trash. And the zipper on "OUR" bed was wide open. This is the BIG widow opening on the end of pop-up canvas. It is still raining a bit and the AC is running as well. I looked at her and said, do you see this? She was totally oblivious. And of course she apologized and once more reminded me, they are just kids. I had showed her what food stuffs she could help herself to. But she had allowed them to get into and eat things I preferred they not. But she rarely tells them no you can't have that. When I asked her about one item in particular, she said, oh I thought you wouldn't mind. Lord help me!!

On thursday morning when we took her up front to her car, she once again apologized about the kids and made the comment she realized I just wasn't used to kids. WHAT?!! I raised my husbands 2 kids and did a pretty darn good job. Just because I didn't have any of my own doesn't mean I wasn't used to kids. I was thinking this mind you, I didn't actually say it. What I did say to her in response was, "It's not that I'm not used to kids, it's that I'm not used to how you raise and handle your kids". Nuff said.

When we got back to the pop-up after dropping her and kids off, Fred got to looking at his fishing gear and saw that one of his rods and reels was so messed up and tangled beyond belief. And all 3 canes poles we brought were broken. They had been put on the hidden side of our picnic table. I guess she was hoping we wouldn't see them before she left. And in case you're wondering, we knew she knew about them because of what our neighbor Griff shared with us later.

That wednesday afternoon, he had heard her fussing at the kids, and as he put it, talking to them like they were adults. She was explaining to them how we had known each other for 36 years. and about the money this was going to cost, and replacing the poles and blah blah blah... He said he was going to offer to help, but the more he listened the more he decided to just stay out of it. We told him he had made the right decision. LOL!!
So we managed to survive a second night with her and the kids. We got up that next morning and took her to her car, said our goodbyes and breathed a sigh of relief.

Now doesn't that sound like a blast? Yeah right!!

On my next installment I'll tell you about our day at AK and dinner at Boma's

Blessings,
Winnie

 

[bethie]

Keep it coming. I am loving the story and pics. What no pics of the "wild childs"? LOL

 

[olbear]

Here they are!

 

[loveDmouse]

Thanks for your review of the Train Tour. Dh & I will be doing that for the first time in December. I can't wait. Dh loves trains. The tour sounds awesome. Wonder if we can flag down a security guy to take us. lol That was lucky. I have been told the boats to the Contemporary will be running that early so that is what I hope and we can walk from there. I will double check when we check in.
Thanks again for the great review. Sounds like you had an awesome time.

 

[olbear]

I forgot to share this on day 3. Hubby Fred wanted to teach my friends son how to fish. SO they went on the canal to see what they could get. My friend and I were in the pop-up resting when Fred came back in and said fishing was over for a while.

What had happened, our chihuahua was barking for Fred. He could see him but couldn't get to him. So reluctantly, Fred brought the dog down to canal with him and tied him to a chair. In no less than 5 minutes a four foot alligator showed up and was approaching slowly. Fred told the boy to put down his pole immediatly and follow him. He grabbed our dog and the boy and came back to pop-up.

We had talked about this happening earlier and sure enough,it happened.
Those kids just brought us all kinds of ufn. Although this wasn't his fault, the wierdest things seemed to happen when they were with us. After they left everything seemed to go back to normal...whatever that is!!

Also, on tuesday morning we went and had breakfast at Trail's End. Our server was none other the KEN!! I did not even ask for him, so we just got lucky. When I saw his name tag, it joggled my memory, so I mentioned reading about him on the Camping Boards here. We congratulated him on his 29 years of serving guests at WDW. AFter breakfast we had our picture done with him.
Here is our picture with Ken tuesday AM after breakfast

Blessings,
Winnie

 

[olbear]

I wanted to share with you all the good part of day 4. Our Day at AK and dinner at Boma. We got to AK a bit later than planned, about 10AM. We took our pup to the kennel.

We went first to see the Nemo Musical. This was so fabulous. We loved it. Boy they sure do try to cram you in there. Me and the Lady next to my left both agreed we were not moving anymore. It was just too hot. Although we were in AC, we had already spent almost an hour in line waiting to get in, and did not want to be on top of each other.

Anyway, as I sadi the show was so wonderful, the staging, costumes, puppets and music were just magical. It is one of my favorite movies, so I enjoyed it all the more.
here are a couple pics

Aftyer the show we walked around Asia then into Africa, and made our way to pizzafari for a quick lunch. The AC felt so good and refreshing. The food was good too. I actually got a childs meal of cheese quesadilla's and carrots and grapes. Just enough. We did some pin trading while in the park and fun with that. The we went to It's Tough To Be A Bug. This is oone we love. We still jump every time!! We walked around some more looking at the different anilmals and such. It was nearing 3PM and we had to be at the AKL for a tour at 4PM. SO we headed out.

We got to the lodge at about 3:30PM and just relaxed until it was time for our tour. The tour was called A Taste Of Africa. It was a culinary tour. It runs sunday thru thursday, and you just show up at 4PM at the Jiko podium.
That day it was only us and one other couple. It started with a hostess telling us about Jiko, which means The Cooking Place.
here is a picture of "The Cooking Place"

She tells us what certain things signify in the restaurant. She also shows us some hidden Mickey's. I won't tell you so you can enjoy should you decide to take the tour, Which by the way, is FREE!!

We are then seated at the counter at Jiko, and meet the Chef who introduces us to the spices of Africa. We are then invited to enjoy some hummus and dips with 3 different flat breads. Wonderful. He bids us good day. The someone from Boma comes and gets us. We are intoduced to Marta, oneof the chefs at Boma. They have just finished setting up the serving line for Boma for the evening. She takes us down the entire food line and tells us what each item is. As she gets to the soup, she gives each of us a sample of the Carrot Ginger soup. This is so good! Then as we make our way down the line, we get to desserts, and she gives each of us a Zebra Dome to sample. WOW! This was my first. It would not be my last. I emntion to Marta thatwe had been told to be sure and ask our server for the fried Oreo's. Marta says, oh yes! We tell her we dining there right after tour. She tells us to have our server let her know when we're ready for dessert.

So our tour is over, but now it's time for dinner. So we check in and are seated quickly. Hubby heads straight for the Carrot Ginger soup. I think he liked it!! I get little dabs of almost everything. Not alot, like just a bite. It is spicey like I remember from our first time. But not quite as out right spicey. Just enough to be interesting. We are nearing dessert so hubby tells our waiter. In about 5 minutes Marta shows up with our Oreo's and wishes us a happy anniversary. There were four of them! We each ate one and were so stuffed. We gave the other two, to a couple next to us. She ate hers and just about melted.

It had been such a nice relaxing fun filled day. Little did we know what would be waiting us when we got back to pop-up. (refer to first post about day 4)

Here is our picture we got after we picked up pup from kennel. Stanley was coming out as we were walking Paco. SO we took advantage of the photo op.

So after dinner we went and got our pup from AK kennel, then returned to pop-up for more fun!!
Next up day 5 - EPCOT

Blessings,
Winnie

 

[rushing]

Love all the pictures, we'll be celebrating our 25th anniversary this Feb. at Fort Wilderness. Where did you get your shirts on the first day and also the pins?
Thanks

 

[olbear]

Love all the pictures, we'll be celebrating our 25th anniversary this Feb. at Fort Wilderness. Where did you get your shirts on the first day and also the pins?
Thanks

Hi there,

Thanks for your compliments. I got our shirts from Disneyshopping.com, but it was 4 years ago, and they don't have that particular bride and groom print anymore. They do have some cute ones. Just no longer that one, sorry. You can get the anniversary button at any guest relations or even at the resorts. We also have lanyards with special honeymoon and anniversary pins and lovey dovey type pins. We have traded for or purchased these over the years. We are avid pin collectors.

Thanks to everyone for their comments and compliments. I am having fun doing this. I'll be adding days as I go.

Blessings,
Winnie

 

[Donna]

hi winnie!
loving your report so far! i had no idea about your friend and the kids! i also had no idea it was your annivesary! HAPPY CONGRATS TO YOU BOTH! we celebrate our 25th next year, hopefully here at the fort! or at least in the world somewhere. your site is still empty by the way, at least it was this morning, not sure about now!
love seeing your pics! thanks for posting!

 

[olbear]

Yes Donna, I can hear it! Site 317 is calling to me...come back come back!!!!
And yes you missed all the fun. It was probably a good thing we weren't your neighbors!! LOL!!

Boy do I wish we were still there!!
WInnie

 

[Donna]

btw, thanks for the tip on the alligator! we walked molly over there and she kept turning back, maybe she sensed the danger! the grass is so high over there, it would be hard to notice. i keep wanting to walk over there to get a pic of that cabin but it's so darn hot in the day, it's like a desert!

 

[olbear]

Just thought I'd post these photo's

This one was taken on tuesday afternoon, when my friends and her kids were with us. We took them down to the petting farm. Which by the way, isn't a petting farm. There were some shetland ponies and that was it. The kids enjoyed pony rides though.

This one is of a big boy and hubby Fred. This horse was huge and beautiful. Can't remember his name. Sorry.

This next one is of our fur baby being abused by me!! I just cannot resist. He is so dog gone cute...pun intended!
So here he is in his new Disney Shirt and Pooh ears. Yes he still loves his mommy!!

Blessings,
Winnie