First trip report

[sshudson99]

The Hudson Family is back and I am going to attempt our very first Trip Report. My trip report will not be as exciting as DaveInTn or TCD's but I will give it a try.

I will answer some first timer questions, many of which I asked myself, such as:
Golf cart or not?
Best time to visit?
Touring the parks
Use the buses or drive to the parks, etc.

I also will tell what famous person was at the Fort.

We had some bumps along the way too.


So let me first introduce you to the gang.

There is me, my hubby, my DD7 and DS11, also, my parents. Now, many people think I am crazy for having so many people. Well, my kids are very close to my parents and really wanted them to go. Also, it was to our advantage to have them in many ways, I will explain that later.

We left North Carolina at 9pm on Thursday the 10th, for a 12 hour journey to Florida. We were pulling a Coleman Popup camper with 2 king beds, a rear slide dinette, and popout sink. Our tow vehicle is a 2008 Chevrolet Silverado, and yes, all 6 of us were in the truck. We decided to leave at night, so the kids would sleep most of the way. My hubby started driving, but pooped out around 10:30, so I took over and drove the next 7 and half hours to almost Florida. I then turned it back over to him.

We arrived at Fort Wilderness at 10am and I had already done online check in, luckily there was no one in front of us in line. Our site was not ready, so we had to park in the overflow lot and we boarded the bus and rode around. They paged us at 12 and our site was ready, we were assigned 1627. I had faxed a request for the 1600 loop near the CS, so I was happy.

Here is our setup:

notice the sign under the front of the camper, yes I had my green ears, so no rotten tomatos were thrown at us.

 

[sshudson99]

Once we set up, it was off to the swimming pool to cool off. We hung around the pool then cooked hamburgers on the grill. We turned in around 10pm, we were all exhausted. We would be staying for 8 nights at the Fort, plenty of time to do everything, right?

Pool pics:
DD

DS (head first) yes, life guard told him not allowed

Now, I had debated for several months about getting a golf cart or not. After reading disboards and looking at how big the park was, I decided the park was pretty big. I knew that if we took bikes, I would not feel comfortable just letting the kids ride by themselves, that meant we all needed our bike and space was limited. I then thought to myself, well, they have buses that can get you from A to B, but finally, I decided, we are on vacation, lets enjoy ourselves.

I called Kenny with Tee Time several months ago to reserve a golf cart. I had asked him to bring it on Saturday morning and pick it up the following Friday. I also decided this was going to be a surprise for the kids, so they had no idea. Kenny called me Friday night to schedule a drop off time, we decided on 9:30am. Saturday morning came and the kids were ready to go to the pool, we were trying to kill time because of the surprise. My Dad decides to take the kids to the pool because they were ready to get out. My hubby and I head to the overflow to get the golfcart. We waited, and waited, no Kenny. I finally called, and he was first very confused, he called his driver who informed him that he had dropped off all he had. Kenny then figured out he had accidenty put our invoice under Sunday deliveries. He was very sorry and said he never does business this way and that he would be out with our golf cart by 11:30, I was saddened about it, but understood. Kenny arrived by 11:00 and brought it to our site. He was super friendly and apologized again for the screw up.
Here is our cart:

Now lets talk about golf carts at the fort. As a first timer, my answer to the question, do you need one? The answer is definately yes. Now, there are buses, but you have to wait for them and it is not the same, as being able to explore. If you are going to the Fort and will be in the parks everyday that you are there, then I would say, no, use the buses. I loved having a golf cart. I could get up in the morning and head to Trails End for coffee and back to the camper in no time. Ofcourse I could take a bus, but it is walk from the bus drop off to Trails End and also from the bus stop to your site, the coffee would be cold by then. Also, lets talk about the Disney golf carts. First of all, they are expensive, and secondly they are SLOW. Kenny's golfcarts are fast. I was leaving most golfcarts in the dust. Disney's are also all green, try finding your golf cart at night amongst 20 other ones.
Kenny said he has a fleet of 28 and he changes the motor in all of them. He said Disney golf carts go around 9 mph and his atleast 18. I say no brainer here.

Ok, enough for tonight, bedtime, gotta go to work tomorrow More to come tomorrow.

 

[kampfirekim]

Let me be the first to say....I'M IN! You're off to a nice start. Keep it coming!

 

[polkadotsuitcase]

Lovin' it so far! Can't wait to read the rest!

 

[AnotherAlice]

I can't wait for all the first timer trip tips! We leave this Saturday!

 

[dblr]

Great start we leave on Sat. so this is a really getting us ready.

 

[Tri-circle-D]

Hello sshudson99!

You are off to a great start!

I love your photos!

I am looking forward to reading more.



TCD

 

[sshudson99]

OK, hang on everyone, I am at work, can't post pics from here, dang blocks at work , but I will be back up and running tonight.

 

[Lil' Lisa]

I'm in!

 

[sshudson99]

OK, where was I....Saturday, right. Before I continue with Saturday, let me fill you in on our history at Disney. This was the first time my husband and kids have ever been to Disney. This was my fourth time to Disney, with the last time being in 1992. My parents never stayed onsite, we were always atleast 30 minutes away. Also, we never stayed for fireworks, etc. So, I wanted my kids to be surrounded by Disney. That is how we ended up at the Fort. We love camping, so what could be better than camping at Disney?

Now, on with Saturday.

We show the kids the golf cart and decide to explore for awhile. We got turned around a few times, but after awhile, figured it all out. We head over to Trails End to refill our mugs (and yes, get the mugs, it is worth every penny). When we get ready to leave, guess who was pulling in.......the famous TCD himself with his 2 daughters. I had to turn around and go introduce myself. I felt as if we had met the President himself. My DH still thinks I am crazy, he just doesn't understand, we are a network of friends here, so I am excited to see someone from the disboards. Anyways, TCD was very friendly and even wanted to race golf carts, I never saw him again, so he must have been scared he would be in our dust after seeing Kenny's super fast cart

We head out later to pick up some grocery items and other needed items. We ate at O'Charleys, then hit the WalMart. Not very exciting day, but when we came out of WalMart, a guy was running up to us to tell us someone had ran into our truck and took off. He then said he took off and followed him through Orlando to get his license number. He called 911 and then came back to tell us, we almost left before he got back. What an awesome person. Not many people would do that. We spent another hour in the parking lot waiting for the trooper to show up. Hopefully they will catch the guy.

Here is a picture of our damage:

Not too bad, but it still makes you sick. Estimated damage=$1250.00 Pray that the officer gets the report changed to show the guys name that did it or we have to pay our deductible and our insurance fixes it. That just makes me sick, when someone else is to blame.

But we did not let this dampen our spirits, on with some pictures.

Some of the pictures were taken with my Blackberry so not as clear.

Next: Sunday

 

[sshudson99]

Well, Sunday morning rolls around and DH wants to go to Kennedy Space Center because he has never been. I woke up not feeling too well, but I suck it up and we head out. The kids wanted to stay and play so my parents stayed at the pool with them. (See what I mean about having the grandparents around )

We got to KSC about 10am and by now, I am SICK with some sort of stomach virus. I sucked it up and went on. We took the tour and it was interesting. My DH enjoyed himself, so that is what matters. He is not into amusement parks so this was his day. I tried to be strong, but by 2pm and with the heat, I could not take it. We finally left, he got to see and do it all. I even managed to ride the simulator with him. We left and headed back to the Fort.

Here are some pics from the day:

moon rock

This is very interesting if you have never been, so I would recommend it to anyone.

I know you are wondering, when are they going to the parks, hang on, its coming.

 

[sshudson99]

Ok, Monday we decided to sleep in a little and do some resort hopping. We go to the marina and take the green flag boat to MK, then take the monorail all the way around and back to TTC, then get on the epcot monorail, then back to TTC, then get off at the Contemporary and spent some time around there. I did get some pics:

Later that evening, we go over to Wilderness Lodge to look around, it ended up costing some money, but worth it. Check it out:

This guy was doing pictures, totally awesome, if you are wondering how much, the price is $15 per face or $20 per body, $30 if color-so ours was $60 plus tax plus $4 for protective sleeve. He is very good though. See what I mean about expensive boat ride. Wilderness Lodge is pretty cool.

Now, on with the parks:

Tuesday was Animal Kingdom. We take the bus over to Animal Kingdom and arrive about 30 minutes early. We were at the rope for the opening. I like this opening ceremony, 2nd to MK. I liked AK for the most part, but I don't have to go back to it anytime soon. Everest is a great ride, and the shows are awesome, but by 4pm, you can cover it all. Also, this is a good park to do if it rains a little. Here are a few pics:

We left by 6 and returned to the Fort and played in the pool for awhile. Wednesday will be a long day-Magic Kingdom at rope drop.
Here are pics of the pool at night.

I wish I was there right now

Next up Magic Kingdom:

 

[kampfirekim]

Great pics and great reporting. Looks like a wonderful trip so far.

 

[polkadotsuitcase]

I wish I was there right now

Me too! Really enjoying your report -- great pix! (And sorry about the knucklenose who hit your car and took off. Kudos to the Good Samaritan!)

 

[Tri-circle-D]

You are doing a great job on this report!

I'm sorry about the damage to your truck. Let us know how that story ends.

The caricatures of your kids turned out great. I think that is money well spent! That will be a great memory for all of you!

Good job on getting to AK for the opening ceremony! I like this one too.

Can't wait to hear more!

TCD

 

[kazlac4]

Wow, what a great report, and the pics are great though it really makes the 4+ months until our next trip even harder to wait for!! Anxiously awaiting the rest!

 

[AnotherAlice]

I feel the same about AK; I'm glad we've been but its not on my "must do" list. Your kids picture turned out great! We posed for a puzzle one year at Epcot to give to the grandparents. That's a fun souvenir too.

 

[YodaGirl]

 

[sshudson99]

You are doing a great job on this report!

I'm sorry about the damage to your truck. Let us know how that story ends.

The caricatures of your kids turned out great. I think that is money well spent! That will be a great memory for all of you!

Good job on getting to AK for the opening ceremony! I like this one too.

Can't wait to hear more!

TCD

Thanks, not as interesting as yours, but I try

 

[sshudson99]

Wednesday we head to Magic Kingdom. We arrive again about 30 minutes early for opening ceromony. It was my favorite, but Magic Kingdom is the best. Incase you are wondering why we chose the days for the parks, I will tell you. I went by the Unofficial Guide recommendations for which park to visit on which day. I was really torn about the EMH days and if we should go on those days, but finally decided to avoid those days and go on the days recommended. I figured if we couldn't get MK done between 9am to 11pm, we would be pooped anyways. Well, it turned out when we arrived at MK, they had posted that the park would remain open until 12am, so we got an extra hour anyways. Now, let me talk about touring this park. As I said earlier I have not been in a long time, but I remembered the spoke and wheel setup for the most part. I also studied the maps and planned our touring very well. Remember when I said earlier that the grandparents would be helpful in several areas, well this is what I mean. As you know, you can get fastpasses for certain rides. We had 6 people in our group, only 3 of us rode the action rides. So I could get 3 FP for say TMRR then get 3 FP for SM without having to wait. How about that? This really helped out during our day. I did not use Tour Guide Mike, but I kinda used The Unofficial Guides recommendations. But, again, our group was not a normal group. Our day went like this: DH took DD to Toon Town and Fantasyland, while me and DS and grandpa headed to Tomorrowland, (grandma just tagged along with us) We hit Space Mountain, then Buzz. We then went to TMRR got FP, rode Splash, and moved around the park. I had a list in a certain order, but I want to mention, no matter how well you plan, things happen. For example, it rained, so I took us through a lot of shows, etc, and then picked up where we left off. We stayed the entire day, and left a little after 11pm. We done everything on our list. By DH taking DD to wait in line for the princesses really helped too. We felt it was easier to split and meet back up then to have half the group have to wait for someone else, keep everyone happy.
Ok, now for some pics:

The famous Dumbo ride, hint, ride it early

DD was first in line for the princesses, so they all came up to her and said since she was first she got to get a group pic, then individual pics with them.

Don't be jealous DaveInTn

People line up super early for this!!!!

more to come