Christmas 2014 Trip Report

[massmickeypal]

We left Massachusetts on Christmas morning at 4 am and arrived at the Fort at 11:30 pm. We made it and still on Christmas! "Twenty hours pillow to pillow" as my son said. Very little traffic on 1-95 all the way down the coast. First time driving straight through since college. Wife shared driving duties. The guard at the gate asked if it was miller time or sleep time and the unanimous response was sleep time.

Check in at close to midnight was really easy but not sure I recommend it

On our trip is my two boys ages 21 and 19, my wife and her Mom and myself. We are really blessed that the boys still are as excited about coming as we are to Fort Wilderness. This is the first time in more than twenty years that my father in law has not been with us on a trip. We miss him each step.

Today brought breakfast at trails end and getting our new drink cups. This afternoon we went to Downtown Disney to the AMC theaters. It was our first time having dining with the movie which was fun. Downtown Disney is under construction. We parked in the new garage that appears at first to be an eyesore but was really convenient.

Late day naps and now off for a drink at Crockett's Tavern followed by Electric Water Pageant and Fireworks on the beach.

 

[Nan P]

Until we moved to Florida 8 years ago, we would make the trip to FW twice a year from Rhode Island, so I know just how far you traveled. DH is from Massachusetts. Nothing like the Fort at the holidays. Nice to hear someone from up north is enjoying family time in Florida. Post some pictures if you can. Will be checking in on your adventures.

 

[2goofycampers]

Glad you had a safe trip. Have a magical time. Sorry to hear about FIl, give MIL extra hugs, she's gonna need them.

 

[bama_ed]

We left Massachusetts on Christmas morning at 4 am and arrived at the Fort at 11:30 pm. We made it and still on Christmas! "Twenty hours pillow to pillow" as my son said. Very little traffic on 1-95 all the way down the coast. First time driving straight through since college. Wife shared driving duties. The guard at the gate asked if it was miller time or sleep time and the unanimous response was sleep time.

Wow, that was quite a drive, mmp. But I understand you probably wanted to arrive on THE day. Hope your vacation is relaxing and fun.

Bama Ed

 

[tiggerdad]

Glad you made it in safe and sound, especially with the length of that trip. One person driving, or did you guys swap up the driving duty?

 

[massmickeypal]

Tiggerdad - multiple drivers made the trip a bit easier.

Did get to see the Christmas Wishes from the beach. It was awesome! They did pipe in the sound. We were not sure they would since we have heard that they sometimes have not been doing it. Had a drink on the porch at Crockett's Tavern. Most of the rocking chairs are gone and replaced with tables. Did anyone know this happened and why? We loved the rockers and just people watching with a drink.

Picked up a cart from Kenny then headed over to the beach club for breakfast at Cape May Café. The Christmas decorations were great including a Ginger Bread House.

Even had some character interactions.

We then went to Magic Kingdom. The crowds were impressive. We managed to see Buzz Light-year (his audio animatronic was covered with a curtain), COP, People Mover (there was a line!), Mickey's PhilharMagic and the Seven Dwarfs Mine train before heading out. They had us leave off a back stage type area off main street. that brought us out next to Tony's. Anyone else ever do this? It was odd.

Today was about rest and tomorrow a chance to visit family. We will post again later this week.

Sorry if pictures didn't post - could use some pointers maybe.

 

[bama_ed]

Sorry if pictures didn't post - could use some pointers maybe.

Pictures didn't post, mmp.

You posted facebook links which don't work on the DIS. Pictures have to be uploaded to a hosting service like photobucket or flickr then use their appropriate link to post into a DIS reply.

We've been directed "backstage" parallel to Main Street before and come back in by Tony's to exit out of the MK. In the evenings with the light shows, fireworks, etc., people stand around the hub area between the castle and the Main Street buildings and it's hard to move across the hub or down Main Street. For now they are using "backstage" flows but the construction and rebuild of the hub should hopefully alleviate some of that. How was the hub looking, BTW?

We had a thread about 1-2 months ago where we discussed photobucket and flickr links here http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=3354905. If you want to use one of those services, pick one service, sign up, upload some pictures, and follow the instructions in the thread. We've talked others through it. Plus, we love to see pictures.

Bama Ed