Back from the Fort! Trip Report begins post #7!
- Thread starter YodaGirl
- Start date
allmydisneydreams
Mouseketeer
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Can't wait to hear all about it! 
Tigger1966
Addicted to Disney
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- May 18, 2008
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- 772
Great to hear you had a good time
Pics
Pics
YodaGirl
DIS Veteran
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- Jul 22, 2008
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This is my first trip report, so here goes nothing. 
Planning this trip was a bit different than the other trips. We didn't plan as long as we normally do, and it kept evolving - and - devolving from week to week. We had reservations beginning on Sunday October 3 and departing Saturday October 9, but I canceled Sunday and Monday. Saturday, I decided that we should go ahead and check in Monday (I looked it up, and Monday was available), but it just didn't feel right. Saturday night, I found out why. DD started complaining of an ear ache, but we couldn't get her in until Monday.
Kinda hard to check in at the Fort and go to the pediatrician's office at the same time.
Bright and early Monday, DD and I headed to the Dr's office. DH slept in late because he had a full night of driving ahead of him.
We finally made it back home with some antibiotics, finished packing, and headed out much later than I had anticipated.
After driving all night, we FINALLY made it to the Fort around 8:30 Tuesday morning.
I have NEVER checked in that early, so we followed the guard's instructions of pulling up to the lane and someone would check us in. No biggie. Sounds familiar.
I'll be the first to admit that after 14 hours of driving - err riding and staying awake to make sure we don't crash into a ditch -that I don't pick up on visual cues that well. By visual cues, I should have noticed that the check-in lanes were closed, but I didn't. I not-so-much-of-a-morning-person grounds keeper informed us that "Duh, genius. You have to go inside." Okay, so maybe those weren't his exact words, but you get the drift.
We had requested the 1500 loop, but new it was a long shot. To be perfectly honest, the closer the time got, the less I cared as to what loop it was. I think DH was secretly wanting the 2000 loop, which is exactly what we got. (Pictures are big. Sorry.)
DD saw me taking pictures, and she wanted in on some of the action. She's wearing one of my old shirts:
We finally managed to get set-up:
At first, my ears were hanging on the clothesline (pictures of that later ), but had a better idea and pinned it to the screen house:
View from behind the site:
Dinner that night was none other than a GAG with mac n cheese and cowboy beans:
DD playing on the playground while we waited for our food:
That evening, we caught up with my brother and his family for the campfire program and movie. I have to say that I have been camping at the Fort since 1985 but have never made it to the campfire program. This year, I was determined to change that. Here are some pics of DD enjoying the music:
DD was determined that she was NOT going to be scared of Chip or Dale. She announced every minute that she was NOT going to be scared. She was wrong. She developed a death grip on me and buried her head in my shoulder at the sight of an enormous chipmunk, so DH got his picture made:
We opted to not watch the movie (Beauty and the Beast), and chose to catch the electrical water pageant, instead. This is where I should add that my camera began messing up and we weren't able to fix it until we got home. It wasn't wanting to hold charge, and it didn't register what was wrong until on our way home. I ended up taking way less pictures than had planned in an attempt to conserve battery life.
DD waiting for the parade:
After a 14 hour drive and a very long first day, we headed back to the campsite and called it a night.
Wednesday held a pretty big surprise for us, but that will be in the next post.
Planning this trip was a bit different than the other trips. We didn't plan as long as we normally do, and it kept evolving - and - devolving from week to week. We had reservations beginning on Sunday October 3 and departing Saturday October 9, but I canceled Sunday and Monday. Saturday, I decided that we should go ahead and check in Monday (I looked it up, and Monday was available), but it just didn't feel right. Saturday night, I found out why. DD started complaining of an ear ache, but we couldn't get her in until Monday.
Kinda hard to check in at the Fort and go to the pediatrician's office at the same time.Bright and early Monday, DD and I headed to the Dr's office. DH slept in late because he had a full night of driving ahead of him.
We finally made it back home with some antibiotics, finished packing, and headed out much later than I had anticipated.After driving all night, we FINALLY made it to the Fort around 8:30 Tuesday morning.
I have NEVER checked in that early, so we followed the guard's instructions of pulling up to the lane and someone would check us in. No biggie. Sounds familiar.
I'll be the first to admit that after 14 hours of driving - err riding and staying awake to make sure we don't crash into a ditch -that I don't pick up on visual cues that well. By visual cues, I should have noticed that the check-in lanes were closed, but I didn't. I not-so-much-of-a-morning-person grounds keeper informed us that "Duh, genius. You have to go inside." Okay, so maybe those weren't his exact words, but you get the drift.
We had requested the 1500 loop, but new it was a long shot. To be perfectly honest, the closer the time got, the less I cared as to what loop it was. I think DH was secretly wanting the 2000 loop, which is exactly what we got. (Pictures are big. Sorry.)
DD saw me taking pictures, and she wanted in on some of the action. She's wearing one of my old shirts:
We finally managed to get set-up:
At first, my ears were hanging on the clothesline (pictures of that later
), but had a better idea and pinned it to the screen house:
View from behind the site:
Dinner that night was none other than a GAG with mac n cheese and cowboy beans:
DD playing on the playground while we waited for our food:
That evening, we caught up with my brother and his family for the campfire program and movie. I have to say that I have been camping at the Fort since 1985 but have never made it to the campfire program. This year, I was determined to change that. Here are some pics of DD enjoying the music:
DD was determined that she was NOT going to be scared of Chip or Dale. She announced every minute that she was NOT going to be scared. She was wrong. She developed a death grip on me and buried her head in my shoulder at the sight of an enormous chipmunk, so DH got his picture made:
We opted to not watch the movie (Beauty and the Beast), and chose to catch the electrical water pageant, instead. This is where I should add that my camera began messing up and we weren't able to fix it until we got home. It wasn't wanting to hold charge, and it didn't register what was wrong until on our way home. I ended up taking way less pictures than had planned in an attempt to conserve battery life.
DD waiting for the parade:
After a 14 hour drive and a very long first day, we headed back to the campsite and called it a night.
Wednesday held a pretty big surprise for us, but that will be in the next post.
YodaGirl
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jul 22, 2008
- Messages
- 2,519
We only had one day planned for that parks, and that was going to be Thursday for MNSSHP. Wednesday was planned to be our resort hopping day.
We had a 9:45 ADR at Trail's End, so it was an early morning (for us) at our site. Normally, Trail's End is a "day we leave" tradition, but we were following my brother and his family home Saturday and I didn't know what time we would be leaving, so we went for Wednesday instead. We made it to Trail's End with 10 minutes to spare. I, or course, had to take a picture of my food.
After breakfast, we headed to the Settlement Trading Post before we went on our way resort hopping:
It was here, that I got a phone call from my mom. She wanted to know if we wanted one day tickets as part of our Christmas present. After promising DH that we would resort hop Friday, we were off to Epcot. We prefer taking the monorail to Epcot even if it is a bit longer, so we caught a boat over to the Magic Kingdom to grab a monorail. Pictures from the boat:
River Country:
Discovery Island:
Magic Kingdom:
Pictures from the monorail:
We made it to Epcot around noon. There were evening EMHs till midnight, so I wasn't concerned about getting there late.
Stitch was just inside Epcot with no wait, so we headed straight for him. DD told Stitch's handler that she wasn't going to be scared. And she wasn't - until she was about a foot away. She was already by him, so we got a quick picture:
Once inside, we measured DD for Test Track. She was tall enough with a couple of inches to spare, so we grabbed some fastpasses. While waiting, we rode Spaceship Earth and The Seas with Nemo and Friends. DD wasn't a fan of Spaceship Earth, but loved The Seas. In fact, she wanted to ride it again. I promised her that we would ride it again later.
Quick pictures by the Seas:
We still had a few minutes before our fast pass time and Mission: Space only had a 10 minute wait. DH has wanted to ride it for a long time, but to be quite frank, I'm paranoid. I know in my head that it is perfectly safe, but considering someone has died on the orange side, I'm just not to keen on DH riding it. We compromised and he rode the green side.
Unfortunately, it only gave him a taste of what it could be and now wants to ride the orange side more than ever. I know. I know. It's perfectly safe. I'm just overly paranoid....
Anyway, off to Test Track.
Are you beginning to see who takes the pictures in this family?
DD liked it for the most part, but kept saying that the outside was not fun. That turned out to be the theme for this vacation. Last year, she liked everything, including the Barnstormer. This year, she hated everything...including the Barnstormer. Maybe next year she'll like it again?
A couple more pictures before we were off to World Showcase:
We had a 9:45 ADR at Trail's End, so it was an early morning (for us) at our site. Normally, Trail's End is a "day we leave" tradition, but we were following my brother and his family home Saturday and I didn't know what time we would be leaving, so we went for Wednesday instead. We made it to Trail's End with 10 minutes to spare. I, or course, had to take a picture of my food.
After breakfast, we headed to the Settlement Trading Post before we went on our way resort hopping:
It was here, that I got a phone call from my mom. She wanted to know if we wanted one day tickets as part of our Christmas present. After promising DH that we would resort hop Friday, we were off to Epcot. We prefer taking the monorail to Epcot even if it is a bit longer, so we caught a boat over to the Magic Kingdom to grab a monorail. Pictures from the boat:
River Country:
Discovery Island:
Magic Kingdom:
Pictures from the monorail:
We made it to Epcot around noon. There were evening EMHs till midnight, so I wasn't concerned about getting there late.
Stitch was just inside Epcot with no wait, so we headed straight for him. DD told Stitch's handler that she wasn't going to be scared. And she wasn't - until she was about a foot away. She was already by him, so we got a quick picture:
Once inside, we measured DD for Test Track. She was tall enough with a couple of inches to spare, so we grabbed some fastpasses. While waiting, we rode Spaceship Earth and The Seas with Nemo and Friends. DD wasn't a fan of Spaceship Earth, but loved The Seas. In fact, she wanted to ride it again. I promised her that we would ride it again later.
Quick pictures by the Seas:
We still had a few minutes before our fast pass time and Mission: Space only had a 10 minute wait. DH has wanted to ride it for a long time, but to be quite frank, I'm paranoid. I know in my head that it is perfectly safe, but considering someone has died on the orange side, I'm just not to keen on DH riding it. We compromised and he rode the green side.
Unfortunately, it only gave him a taste of what it could be and now wants to ride the orange side more than ever.
I know. I know. It's perfectly safe. I'm just overly paranoid....Anyway, off to Test Track.
Are you beginning to see who takes the pictures in this family?
DD liked it for the most part, but kept saying that the outside was not fun. That turned out to be the theme for this vacation. Last year, she liked everything, including the Barnstormer. This year, she hated everything...including the Barnstormer. Maybe next year she'll like it again?
A couple more pictures before we were off to World Showcase:
YodaGirl
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jul 22, 2008
- Messages
- 2,519
This trip marks DH's 4th trip to WDW, and never once has he really been able to enjoy World Showcase. In fact, only one other time has he ventured into WS, and then we only power walked around it. This time, we did the KidCot stops, which forced us to explore the countries a bit.
We rode Grand Fiesta at Mexico and the Maelstrom at Norway.
As we were approaching Germany, DD yelled "Snow White!" Sure enough, there she was. No time for an autograph since she was heading in for the night, but we managed to get a picture. Here's a pic, just for you, Dave.
DH bought a brat at Germany, and I eventually made my way over to the UK for fish and chips. $12 for fish, fries, and drinks! I'll stick with Long John's.
Sugar Ray was playing tonight. I felt like I was in high school again.
Spaceship Earth from WS:
By 8:40, we FINALLY finished the KidCot stops, and we were BEAT. It was 20 minutes until Illuminations, but DD was done. She said she didn't want to stay for the fireworks, and we were fine with it. Made our way to the front. Realized we didn't get our pics with our Leave a Legacy tile. Quick trip in the store to find out where it was again, and a couple of quick pictures:
We caught up with some friends from church who were enjoying their first WDW trip (they stayed in the Cabins, btw) at the bus stop, and rode with them back to the Fort.
We crashed the second we got back from Epcot.
The rest of the trip will have to wait until tomorrow or Wednesday.
We rode Grand Fiesta at Mexico and the Maelstrom at Norway.
As we were approaching Germany, DD yelled "Snow White!" Sure enough, there she was. No time for an autograph since she was heading in for the night, but we managed to get a picture. Here's a pic, just for you, Dave.
DH bought a brat at Germany, and I eventually made my way over to the UK for fish and chips. $12 for fish, fries, and drinks! I'll stick with Long John's.
Sugar Ray was playing tonight. I felt like I was in high school again.
Spaceship Earth from WS:
By 8:40, we FINALLY finished the KidCot stops, and we were BEAT. It was 20 minutes until Illuminations, but DD was done. She said she didn't want to stay for the fireworks, and we were fine with it. Made our way to the front. Realized we didn't get our pics with our Leave a Legacy tile. Quick trip in the store to find out where it was again, and a couple of quick pictures:
We caught up with some friends from church who were enjoying their first WDW trip (they stayed in the Cabins, btw) at the bus stop, and rode with them back to the Fort.
We crashed the second we got back from Epcot.
The rest of the trip will have to wait until tomorrow or Wednesday.
stacktester
DIS Veteran
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- Jan 11, 2007
- Messages
- 3,704
Great report and the old school shirt is a classic.
polkadotsuitcase
Disney-loving mom!
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- Jul 11, 2009
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- 1,906
Yay, Mom!
I'm glad your camera managed to hang on for these pix -- I'm loving them! Looks like *so* much fun.
Tri-circle-D
<font color=peach>Throwing some love to TCD<br><fo
- Joined
- Nov 29, 2004
- Messages
- 4,937
Fantastic job on this TR!
My thoughts/comments/questions:
1. Love your DD's old school shirt!
2. Great photos of the GAG and TE breakfast. Made my mouth water!
3. Awesome about the surprise tix to Epcot.
4. I'm glad you finally got to the campfire.
5. You got a great site on the 2000 loop. I like the sites that back up to the canal.
6. Who won the checker match?
7. I like your campsite set-up. It's hard to see from the photo, but are the tents connected with a tunnel? Or do you have three separate tents?
I'm looking forward to more.
TCD
My thoughts/comments/questions:
1. Love your DD's old school shirt!
2. Great photos of the GAG and TE breakfast. Made my mouth water!
3. Awesome about the surprise tix to Epcot.
4. I'm glad you finally got to the campfire.
5. You got a great site on the 2000 loop. I like the sites that back up to the canal.
6. Who won the checker match?
7. I like your campsite set-up. It's hard to see from the photo, but are the tents connected with a tunnel? Or do you have three separate tents?
I'm looking forward to more.
TCD
YodaGirl
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jul 22, 2008
- Messages
- 2,519
We did! Glad ya'll had a good time, as well!
Thanks!
Yay, Mom!
I'm glad your camera managed to hang on for these pix -- I'm loving them! Looks like *so* much fun.
Glad you're enjoying. Next update perhaps later tonight or at least tomorrow.
Fantastic job on this TR!
My thoughts/comments/questions:
1. Love your DD's old school shirt!
Thanks!
2. Great photos of the GAG and TE breakfast. Made my mouth water!
They were definitely pretty tasty.
3. Awesome about the surprise tix to Epcot.
We were pretty surprised.
4. I'm glad you finally got to the campfire.
It was worth it. Wish we'd made it sooner.
5. You got a great site on the 2000 loop. I like the sites that back up to the canal.
I was afraid we'd end up with a barren site, but we really loved it.
6. Who won the checker match?
DD...but she cheats.
7. I like your campsite set-up. It's hard to see from the photo, but are the tents connected with a tunnel? Or do you have three separate tents?
Thanks! Yes, they're connected with a tunnel. They can also be used as three separate tents.
I'm looking forward to more.
TCD
Thanks! Too bad we missed you. It would have been cool to have met someone from the boards.
liv luvs disney
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Mar 25, 2009
- Messages
- 1,610
I hate that we missed eachother, but I sure am enjoying your TR!
BTW, we got the exact same sides for our Giddy Up and Go!
BTW, we got the exact same sides for our Giddy Up and Go!
Minnie&Mickey
I want to live at the Fort!
- Joined
- May 15, 2000
- Messages
- 1,456
We were, too! We did EPCOT on Wednesday and MNSSHP on Thursday. Even though we brought our golf cart, we never really went looping. The only green ears I saw down there were Bearikins on the 100 or 200 loop.
flamingogal
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- Oct 25, 2005
- Messages
- 32
I just love your DD's expression! When I saw this pix, I just knew "there's a kid with who knows she's got it".
Thanks for "my" pix of the day!
Jeanne
DaveInTN
I'm Not The Castle Guy
- Joined
- Jan 20, 2008
- Messages
- 2,922
Dinner that night was none other than a GAG with mac n cheese and cowboy beans:
WOW! That picture gives me such an appetite....
Here's a pic, just for you, Dave.
....and, there it goes.
YodaGirl
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jul 22, 2008
- Messages
- 2,519
It was pretty tasty, wasn't it?
We really didn't do any looping, either. I saw the 800 and the 2000 loop, but that's it.
MNSSHP pictures coming up next!
I just love your DD's expression! When I saw this pix, I just knew "there's a kid with who knows she's got it".
Thanks for "my" pix of the day!
Jeanne
Glad that you enjoyed!
WOW! That picture gives me such an appetite....
....and, there it goes.
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