Finally! My Post-Holiday Halloween FW Trip Report

[allmydisneydreams]

Have you ever taken a trip and then come home to a life much busier than before you left? When that happens that poor trip’s memories are seriously endangered.

And that is what happened to me, after our November trip to Fort Wilderness. It was our first visit to the Fort. First of many, if I have anything to say about it --- because it was fabulous. I can’t begin to express how amazing the Fort is …

But immediately upon returning I started a new job, DH’s job went into overdrive (read massive overtime, which leaves me feeling almost like a single mom at times) and the holidays started up. So its been work and kids’ concerts and cleaning house and turkeys and trimming and decorating and shopping and wrapping and celebrating. All wonderful, yes. But leaving very little time to even think about our little vacation, or Disney at all, or the Disboards.

Until now. Ah, its winding down. And my little post-holiday Happy New Year gift to myself is going to be taking the time to relive our FW trip. The good and the not quite as planned. LOVED it. Hope you’ll come along for the ride

 

[SC DAD of 2]

WoooHoo can't wait!

 

[allmydisneydreams]

First a Little bit about us.

I have to tell you that I am very shy. Just not the out there gregarious and friendly type. I admire those people so much, but I just can’t seem to be that way. So its hard for me sometimes to put my personal stories out there on the web. But I am doing it for a few good reasons: 1. I have sooooooo enjoyed reading everyone else’s reports and seeing their pics so I think that there might be someone out there who would be interested in our little tale. 2. I want a trip record for myself and my family. 3. We were newbie tent campers sleepin’ at the Fort for the first time. So I may just have some stories and ideas that might interest and/or help other newbs. I got SO much help from the boards before we went that I’d like to payback if I can.


Some quick history ( I hope. I am shy, but I do tend to go on and on sometimes) …..

About camping ….
Please don’t hate me when I say this, but I always pretty much disliked camping. OK, I hated it. I mean I certainly thought it was fine if other people liked it, but it just wasn’t my cup of tea.

I remember liking it just fine as a little kid – we did some wilderness type camping – my dad is a retired Navy guy who thought that tp was an unecessary luxury in the woods (hey, there are leaves, who needs paper?). He married a city girl and had two daughters so he tried, but our camping life was pretty short lived. By the time I was a young teen I had decided that not only tp, but a proper bathroom complete with hair dryer , hot curlers, and supersize hairspray were bare necessities (it was the 80s).

My DH and love of my life grew up camping with his hunting/fishing dad. And being a guy he was much more open to the idea. He never really got into the hunting and fishing but loved the peace of the outdoors – walking in the woods, hiking, etc. So when we married very young and couldn’t afford a real honeymoon he suggested camping in upstate NY. He promised me indoor flush toilets so I went along with it, out of blind love I decided later.

We only made it two nights before I demanded a motel room. The bathroom/shower situation was OK, but we had borrowed a tent from his dad and apparently the ancient thing was badly in need of airing out because it STUNK to high heaven. Plus air mattresses hadn’t been invented yet (still the 80s) or at least we didn’t have any and the ground was hard under those stinky sleeping bags. It was then and there that I swore off camping. Forever. Whenever I heard the word an involuntary – ick – would find its way from my lips to the ears of those around me. Never. Never. Again.

 

[allmydisneydreams]

Never say never. That’s what I always say. Fast forward a good 17 years. I had never again thought about camping. Why would I? I didn’t even walk down the camping stuff aisle in Wal-Mart. Ewwww.

Then my first born son decided that, like some of his little friends, he wanted to be a Cub Scout. How cute is that? We got the mini uniform and hat. I have to say that he was adorable. We went to the meetings, we worked on the badges – building stuff, looking outside for different types of birds. Good clean fun for boys. I knew there would be camping and I was OK with it – because it was a dad and son activity. They could take our younger son with them, too. More power to them. I’d stay home and get some quiet time. Ahhhh, mommy freedom. What in the world would I do with myself? Bubble baths. Books. The TV to myself. Life was good.

But then something terrible happened. That little boy, who resided on my very heart, looked me in the eye with his cutest red headed face on and lisped – You’re coming camping, aren’t you mommy? I tried to resist. Really I did. But honey, I said, I thought that you and daddy would like to go camping on your own. Wouldn’t that be fun? But mommy, he said, its family camping. And I want you to come. You’ll go camping with me, won’t you mommy? And then those same lips that had uttered so many camping icks and ewwws involuntarily succumbed to the sweet cuteness of my baby. Of course, honey, of course I’ll be camping with you. I wouldn’t miss it.

 

[CCIntrigue]

Can't wait for the next installment!

 

[big kahuna1]

You are doing great so far!

Don't forget some pics!!!

 

[allmydisneydreams]

WooHoo - Readers!!!!

I'm so excited!

Thanks for the encouraging words, everyone.

More to follow --- and I am trying to figure out how to upload pics

 

[allmydisneydreams]

The funniest thing about that first camping trip was when I asked the scoutmaster what the bathroom facilities would be like … and he burst out laughing. In my face. Hilarious.

And they were awful, let me tell you. Pit toilets, no running water. It was all I could do not to run away. OK, maybe I did run away to the Wal-Mart 10 miles away just to use the bathroom once (or twice). But it was my first time, give me a break. And I truly believe that the most important modern invention is the flush toilet, hands down. I’m not kidding here. We take it for granted but try living without it for a day or two.

The first night of our first camping trip it poured – and it was early spring so it was freezing. We were all setting up tents in the downpour and the kids were running around in the mud shining flashlights into each others eyes. Its crazy, crazy, crazy, crazy. But the next day when the sun came out I realized that we were actually having a good time. Despite the terrible facilities, and the rain. I was enjoying watching my boys in the woods. I was enjoying the quiet and the being away from it all.

After that I had a love-hate relationship with those camping trips. I would pretty much dread them, then once there relax and enjoy it. The kids loved the campfires, the gooey marshmallows, the freedom to roam farther than I allow them to at home. I remember one particular night when we tucked the boys into the tent and took a little walk, just DH and I … the stars were amazing. We live in a populated area and rarely see stars like that. I was not hating camping anymore.

And suddenly it occurred to me (OK, I’m slow) ---- Maybe I could capture the great parts of camping in a more civilized way. Maybe we could camp as a family with some of the modern conveniences. So I set out to find somewhere to camp.

In the summer of 2009 we took our first “camping” trip. I put it in quotes because some part of me still believes that camping=no tp. So our trip to North Landing Beach Campground in Virginia Beach seemed almost too luxurious to call camping. We rented a little cabin – the kind with bunkbeds. It was so cute and very reasonable (a requirement for all of our trips). We had a/c and a tiny microwave and yes, our own tiny bathroom. This was in a 10x10 space. It was a beautiful campground, I am hoping to go back sometime.

We had such a blast. We wandered the area, went to the beach, made a fire. One night it poured and we sat in our little cabin and played board games all night. No TV, no video games. Just family time. I was hooked. I wanted more.

And earlier that year, the spring before our trip, our little family had expanded to include our third son. So now, as a family of five, we were really going to need budget vacation options.

Comfy baby sleeping in the cabin J

The boys canoeing in Virginia Beach.


I decided that we needed a big giant tent. And started shopping for it, much to the amazement of my family. We were slowly morphing into campers …

 

[dblr]

Keep going great trip report so far, our family is a scouting one so we can relate let's hope he continues on and becomes an Eagle Scout you will be so proud of him. It's a long journey and a lotta work but well worth it.
Keep up campimg no matter what type as I feel it helps in keeping the family close both my boys ( 19&15) are already planning on what type of campers they want of course the oldes thinks he will get our truck and 5th wheel when we get our retirement unit.
Looking forward to more of your adventure post on.

 

[liv luvs disney]

Ooh, ooh, a TR!

 

[2goofycampers]

I'm in.

 

[devores]

both my boys ( 19&15) are already planning on what type of campers they want of course the oldes thinks he will get our truck and 5th wheel when we get our retirement unit.
Looking forward to more of your adventure post on.

Its funny you say that. My oldest graduates this year and was talking about hoping to get a camper and take her kids camping (and to the Fort) when she has some of her own. It made me so proud. We have been camping for close to 20 years. Started off in tents, then moved up from there. We loved it so much and made a stronger family. We now live the dream and fulltime in our FW, so everyday is camping.

 

[fort4evr]

This is a GREAT trip report so far! Keep it coming

 

[mom of 3 (or 4) boys]

Okay, you have to keep this coming as I am looking forward to living vicariously through you! My three boys are all teenagers now.....however we started camping (with a pop up) when the youngest was 1 year old.
So many great memories, so much money saved through the camping experience, and so many neat people we have met. When you stay in a hotel you tend to not talk to your neighbor, where when you camp everyone is a friend.

 

[allmydisneydreams]

As the final chapter in our becoming campers we needed a tent. My mom is a doll and always wants to give me a nice birthday gift, even though I am old now So last spring she asked what I wanted and I told her I wanted a tent. I have to say the look on her face was priceless. Utter disbelief.

But I had been researching campgrounds and I was getting excited. The truth is that budget is always a concern in our family. And I was quickly determining that we would have a way better chance of getting more places and seeing more sights if we camped. I have made a hobby of planning “imaginary” vacations – I just love researching destinations and kitschy tourist stuff. And I had started to read on the boards about FW, which just sounded too good to be true. So I was gifted a generous gift card and started looking for the perfect tent.

It had to be BIG. With three boys and all of our stuff I wanted space. I also wanted some way to hook up an a/c, after reading about people doing that on the disboards. I wanted DH, who is 6’2 to be able to stand up. So I searched and searched.

All this time my older dear son, who is 11 and getting to be more of a cynical pre-teen type, kept saying “You won’t do it … you won’t use your gift card on a tent”…. But I did. Hey, if you can’t shake things up then where’s the fun in life, right?

So we settled on the Ozark Vacation Lodge from Wal-Mart. It had great reviews and a cool name We set it up in the backyard and my DS8 was so cute – he was just so excited! He kept saying – this is like a real vacation lodge! I sealed the heck out of the inside seams, under advisement from the camping board. That night it rained and I re-sealed the leaky parts. For anyone who gets this tent – the problem was that the little pockets for stuff/cellphones were acting as a wicking when it rained. A bit more sealer and that problem was taken care of. Also – we used the Coleman roll-on sealer, but I ended up prying the cap off and using a paintbrush to really get it on there thick.

Next up was our “trial” camping trip – three nights in the tent J

We headed to Chippokes State Park near Williamsburg . Virginia. We had purchased passes to Busch Gardens and the plan was to camp and go to the parks. My parents decided to come along and they rented a “cabin” at Chippokes. We left at 4 am and drove the 6 hours to Virginia. We then spent several very hot/crowded hours at Busch Gardens. Then took the ferry over the James River to Chippokes. Suffice it to say that we were beyond exhausted, and we were first time (on our own) tent campers with a camp to set up and three hot, tired, hungry kids in tow.

And I was grumpy. The camp sites looked awful to me. Especially when we popped in on my parents and their cabin turned out to be an air conditioned restored tenant farmers house. Completely adorable and clean and already set up! I grumped, and then seriously regretted it when DS11 said something to the effect that he knew I wasn’t going to like camping. Ouch. Now mind you, my son is a sweet boy and he did not say this in a mean way, more like a concerned way. And in his defense I was being a complete brat. We’d had the choice of two different loops online and in my mind we’d chosen the wrong one. The sites had electricity but were no frills otherwise. In retrospect, I’m not sure what I was expecting, it was camping after all!!!!

But after that rough start, once I calmed down and we had everything set up, we had an awesome time. And we learned a MAJOR lesson about camping – it is extremely important to schedule ample time for setting up. Not when you are exhausted and hungry, either. Hard lesson, but we took it to heart.

We spent the next few nights at Chippokes, and it really was a nice (albeit basic) campground. The bathrooms/showers were clean. There were laundry facilities. And it was only $20 a night!!! It was a beautiful area. Of course it rained while we were there (are you sensing a theme? I should rent my family out for droughts – let us camp in your fields and we’ll guarantee rain!) But I was really proud of my sealing job because we got NO water in the tent

We also had a mishap with our air conditioner blowing out. But at least before that happened we were able to figure out how to zip it into one side of the door while using the other side to enter and exit.

We had a great time at Busch Gardens and Water Country USA. We did campfires and cookouts. We ended up happy but tired at the end of the trip. I was wondering aloud to DH how people find camping relaxing. Together we decided that we (well, I) had tried to squeeze too much into just a few days. To be relaxing, camping itself has to be the main activity. Tent camping comes with a moderate amount of work, and we vowed to factor that in on our next trip. Second lesson learned.

And soon enough we’d get to put these newly aquired campers’ lessons into play at Fort Wilderness. Woo Hoo!

 

[lindsey]

Can't wait to hear more.

 

[allmydisneydreams]

I wanted to say THANK YOU to everyone who has encouraged me along! It is so fun to have actual readers

I can't figure out how to quote multiple people, though ... so I am having trouble replying specifically - anyone know how to do that ????

Also I am having an issue with my Disney pics, but I will get that worked out and start posting them as soon as I can.

Next up .... How I became a Disney maniac and drug my family into it with me

 

[allmydisneydreams]

How I became a Disney crazed maniac and drug my family into it, too ….

I was lucky enough to get to both Disney World and Disneyland as a child. My dad was I the Navy and we traveled around a lot – my amazing parents always made sure that my sister and I saw as much of the country as possible.

As I mentioned early we weren’t big campers, but we were definitely budget travelers. We stayed in Kissimmee a few times, I honestly thought that you had to be rich to stay at Disney World! And really, I still sort of feel that about the Poly and Contemporary, which were the only hotels on property back then. I’m pretty certain that if my parents had been aware of FW we would have ended up there – but they just never looked into staying onsite, I guess.

But I do have very fond memories of marathon days at Disney World (now known as the Magic Kingdom). My dad always made sure that we were at the park when it opened and we always closed that baby down, too!!!! I have memories of falling asleep on the tram to the parking lot after a magical day. Eventually as a teen I went to Epcot, too. We were day trippers at the Disney Parks. I loved them, but sort of outgrew the Magic Kingdom, I guess. I know – CRAZY, huh?

Eventually my parents moved to Florida and my husband and I spent about 5 years there, too – in the Orlando area. We were young and newleyweds and we did venture to the parks on occasion – but it was expensive. I seem to remember a conversation that we had about it being $40 a person and out of our budget. But that would have been in the early 90s so I am thinking that I must have that wrong – it would have had to be more than that at that point, right ?

Anyway, we did spend a couple of New Years Eves at Epcot and visited the studios, too. AK wasn’t around yet. We liked Disney well enough, but it wasn’t a huge part of our lives or a vacation goal or anything like that.

Fast forward to 2005, we live back up north now and we have our two little boys. My entire family decided to go to Disney – for a week – TOGETHER. I am talking my sister & her husband, her three kids, my parents, my aunt and uncle, my cousin and her husband and their son … it was 16 people in all …

I found some giant houses to rent and tried to get everyone to go that route. In my ever-budgeting mind that was the way to do it. But my sister decided that it had to be all inclusive. She does NOT cook on vacation (go figure!) So we all booked rooms at ASMo. We had Park Hoppers with Water Parks & more AND the Dining Plan. This was back when the dining plan included appetizers and tips, too. Ah, the good old days

We had absolutely no idea what we were doing, and lucky for us one of the kind souls that are CMs asked me at one point if we had made our dining reservations. We had not, and we had to really hustle to get reservations for all of those people, but we did get them.

About a month before the trip I discovered the disboards and realized how woefully unprepared we really were. I also discovered that some people were insane when it came to Disney. I actually called my husband over to the computer and said – You’ve got to see this, these people are nuts! They talk about Disney incessantly – they take pictures of food – they go back over and over again. They live and breathe Disney. Can you imagine?

But although I thought those people were crazed, they definitely had some good info for our twice in a lifetime trip. I figured we’d do that one when our boys were 6 and 3, and another down the road when they were teens and “old enough to appreciate Epcot”. Ha. Silly, silly girl I was.

Anyway, when we reached Movies and checked in I swear to you I was immediately bit by the magic bug. I had it bad.

Part of it, of course, was the all-inclusive thing. I had never been to anything all-inclusive and I have to admit I was loving waving that KTTW card around and getting all those fabulous dinners.

But it was way more than that.

It was they way that my 3 year old looked up in awe at the giant Woody statue.

It was the way that he would ask at night – Do we get to sleep in our Toy Story bedroom again?

It was the way that my 6 year old’s eyes lit up as he tried to pull the sword from the stone.

It was how my husband and I loosened up, and skipped through the parks and how we just spent time as a family – just being and exploring. Utter, pure, magic. It took me by surprise and I was hooked. Seriously hooked.

We did lots of stuff “wrong” on that trip. We spent too much time running from park to park, from ADR to ADR. We stayed up too late and wore ourselves out. We forgot to relax, but we wanted to see everything. After all, who knew when we'd ever be at Disney again.

So as soon as we got home I knew what had to be done. We had to go back. There was no other option. I started reading the Dis religiously. It was like I was studying for the Disney bar. I discovered Tour Guide Mike. I became one of those crazy people who just couldn’t get enough Disney. I followed the discounts and priced out trips that we couldn't afford.

And honestly, another trip wasn’t in our cards for awhile. I dreamed about them, and I knew that we’d get back someday and that when we did it would be perfect. And while my extended family all said that they wouldn’t return until they could do the whole shebang again, I felt differently. I’d go however I could. I’d stay at the Super 8 and eat take out in the car. I’d do anything to spend an hour on Disney soil. Must. go. to. Disney.

My husband began to think I was losing it. So I toned it down a bit – kept my Disney musings to myself for awhile.

Then it was 2008 and I was about to have a birthday. Normally my birthdays are no big deal, but this was a pivotal one. You know, one of those birthdays with a zero at the end.

And my husband, who I am certain had a restaurant in mind when he asked, said - Where do you want to go for your birthday?

And of course I replied, Disney.

And my sweet husband said something to the effect of Baby, if I can get you there I will.

That was all I needed. We were going to Disney!

 

[allmydisneydreams]

Lucky for us, that Spring was a huge one at my husband’s work and he got tons of overtime. I subscribed to Tour Guide Mike and began planning a super budget trip. We’d stay off site, pack lunches, buy tickets from Undercover Tourist. I had been studying for this for years. I knew just what to do. I made note cards, schedules, and touring plans and laminated them. I cut out Mickey heads to decorate with. I had such a blast planning this trip.

It ended up that my parents decided to come with us and we shared the rental on a townhouse in Windsor Hills. It was off season and the house was less than $50 a night per couple. It was fabulous. We had a room, my parents had a room, and the boys had a room, each with our own baths.

We packed gourmet lunches for the parks. We went to Chef Mickey’s for my birthday. We followed our touring plans and never waited in line. It was nine glorious days of Disney bliss. Planned to perfection, if I do say so myself.

While the first time my hubby had certainly liked Disney, this was the trip that made him love it. Not that he is nearly as crazy about it as I am (yet!). But there was definitely a conversion that occurred that April of 2008.

Which may be why, when Give a Day was announced for 2010, he dutifully read children’s books aloud into a tape recorder when I asked him to. And why he enthusiastically mailed them off to Philadelphia Reads, where they would be given to underprivileged children to help them to learn reading skills. And why he looked excited when our vouchers were downloadable. And why he didn’t call me crazy (to my face) when I announced that we were going to drive 1000 miles to Orlando and stay in a $26 Hotwire hotel and go to Disney for one day.

 

[3girlsfun]

I am loving the report! I love camping, grew up with camping, but, in a camper. My parents had that camper for 30 years. It had brown and burnt orange interior. I wish they still had the camper, I loved it!

I can't wait to read more!

I literally just finished my popcorn.