"Fort Wilderness" themed birthday party - UPDATED with PICS

[Phantasia]

Hi all!

My husband's birthday party is THIS SUNDAY and I want to do a loose "Fort Wilderness" theme. FW is our resort of choice -- and home away from home! -- and we weren't able to get out there last fall since we'd just had a newborn. So, I thought I'd bring the Fort to him!

I'm a nerd and love theming parties, and thought there might be others here on this board who also thinks this is a fun idea and not totally lame. :/

Menu (at "Trail's End"):

• Chili (and fixin's ... sour cream, shredded cheese, green onions)
• Cornbread (out of a cast iron skillet)
• Fried Chicken
• BBQ Ribs

Decor:
Kind of stumped here, with a short window of time, and limited cash resources ... The party is being held indoors.

• Printed signage?
• Red & white checked tablecloths
• I have lots of the bluegrass/Appalachian music played in the FW loops

Activities/Games:
It'd be fun to have 2-3 or activities/games that are on theme. The people who'd participate in any games would range in age from 10 to 45, and there would be about 6-10 players.

• Pin Trading? Hubby is a big pin trader; was thinking it might be fun to have some pin trading-themed game

Would love to hear what you creative folks think and any ideas you care to share!

 

[Tuffcookie]

OP, Stick a "Comfort Station" sign on the bathroom door!

TC

 

[Phantasia]

OP, Stick a "Comfort Station" sign on the bathroom door!

Definitely! Now I wish I'd taken a photo of the Comfort Station signs when we were there last ...

 

[Phantasia]

Would this be more appropriately posted under Camping at Disney World?

 

[johnsontrio]

Don't know if this is what you had in mind:

Cabela's and other sporting goods stores sell cardboard deer cutouts people use for target practice. We took those and green posterboard cut out in the shape of trees and decorated the walls for my BIL's 50th birthday party, turned out really cute.

Lanterns for the tables with bandanas underneath them. Camping chairs out.

Hope that helps!

 

[Christine]

Without having a lot of resources and time to really make it "Fort Wildneress-y", I think the party is just going to end up looking like a picnic. Which is okay I guess but I'm just not seeing how you will get the full Fort Wilderness feel without some big efforts in the decorations department.

 

[Phantasia]

Don't know if this is what you had in mind:

Cabela's and other sporting goods stores sell cardboard deer cutouts people use for target practice. We took those and green posterboard cut out in the shape of trees and decorated the walls for my BIL's 50th birthday party, turned out really cute.

Lanterns for the tables with bandanas underneath them. Camping chairs out.

Hope that helps!

Fantastic ideas! I don't think we have any hunting stores around here, but can definitely do the trees, and BANDANAS! What a great idea, and I think the dollar store carries them. I think if I ask hubby to get the camping chairs out he'll figure out what's up. (I specifically asked him if he wanted to help, or if he wanted it to be a surprise, and this 34 year old little boy would prefer to be surprised. )

Thanks!

 

[Phantasia]

Without having a lot of resources and time to really make it "Fort Wildneress-y", I think the party is just going to end up looking like a picnic. Which is okay I guess but I'm just not seeing how you will get the full Fort Wilderness feel without some big efforts in the decorations department.

Our picnics look (and taste) nothing like what FW has to offer, so it's definitely something that our family associates with Disney. (We're in Toronto, Canada, so Fort Wilderness -- any country-ish stuff in general -- feels quite foreign to us.)

And I'm not expecting to get a full Fort Wilderness feel ... it's just a small party for 12-15 people. It's just to theme the food and to show hubby I love him and know this is something he'd enjoy.

At the very least it'll taste good and people will be hanging out, enjoying each others' company, surrounded by green paper trees.

 

[Christine]

Our picnics look (and taste) nothing like what FW has to offer, so it's definitely something that our family associates with Disney. (We're in Toronto, Canada, so Fort Wilderness -- any country-ish stuff in general -- feels quite foreign to us.)

And I'm not expecting to get a full Fort Wilderness feel ... it's just a small party for 12-15 people. It's just to theme the food and to show hubby I love him and know this is something he'd enjoy.

At the very least it'll taste good and people will be hanging out, enjoying each others' company, surrounded by green paper trees.

Yeah, I can see that point of view. I live in the mid-Atlantic area where things can trend toward "south" so we have many restaurants that can have country feel as well as many country-ish things for decorating and entertaining that wouldn't scream Ft. Wilderness to anyone around this area. But if Ft. Wilderness is one of your sole experiences in that genre than, yeah, it would probably work.

 

[fortwildernessishome]

Hi all!

My husband's birthday party is THIS SUNDAY and I want to do a loose "Fort Wilderness" theme. FW is our resort of choice -- and home away from home! -- and we weren't able to get out there last fall since we'd just had a newborn. So, I thought I'd bring the Fort to him!

I'm a nerd and love theming parties, and thought there might be others here on this board who also thinks this is a fun idea and not totally lame. :/

Menu (at "Trail's End"):

• Chili (and fixin's ... sour cream, shredded cheese, green onions)
• Cornbread (out of a cast iron skillet)
• Fried Chicken
• BBQ Ribs

Decor:
Kind of stumped here, with a short window of time, and limited cash resources ... The party is being held indoors.

• Printed signage?
• Red & white checked tablecloths
• I have lots of the bluegrass/Appalachian music played in the FW loops

Activities/Games:
It'd be fun to have 2-3 or activities/games that are on theme. The people who'd participate in any games would range in age from 10 to 45, and there would be about 6-10 players.

• Pin Trading? Hubby is a big pin trader; was thinking it might be fun to have some pin trading-themed game

Would love to hear what you creative folks think and any ideas you care to share!

I dont have any good ideas, but had to respond......as you can see from my name, I love Fort Wilderness too!!!

I have two ideas, maybe a few rounds of checkers......not sure how that would work with 6-10 people, but we always love to play a few games at the Trading Post!

We have a "Disney" party every year and do a variety of trivea games.....could you do a trivea game about Fort Wilderness?

-when did FW open?
-Name four Camping loops. ex. Big Bear, Bobcat Bend etc.
-When did River Country close?
-How much does it cost to go to the Hoop Dee Doo?
-What time is the campfire program?
-How many comfort stations are there.

The possibilities are endless!!!

Good Luck and have FUN!!!

 

[Disneypeach]

what a fun theme!
if you have a printer you can search for FW graphics online and print them off to use for decorations. There is also an old thread on the camping board that has a bunch of designs specific to the fort as well...

have fun.
Peach

 

[Phantasia]

I dont have any good ideas, but had to respond......as you can see from my name, I love Fort Wilderness too!!!

I was hoping to hear from some diehard FWers like ourselves ... well, we're as diehard as our distance from Florida and finances allow! LOVE your username, btw!

Thanks for the ideas -- I think I'll steal them both! Some of our family doesn't stay at FW; but they're Hoop-De-Doo fans, so they're at the Fort often enough. That'll just give us a leg up in the trivia.

Due to how short on time we were, I let hubby know the theme and now he's helping. But the games and activities are all still secrets.

 

[Phantasia]

what a fun theme!
if you have a printer you can search for FW graphics online and print them off to use for decorations. There is also an old thread on the camping board that has a bunch of designs specific to the fort as well...

I'll have to look for that thread -- I haven't found many of the FW graphics online (mainly just the current logo with the Pioneer Hall skyline). I did find a coloring sheet that I'm going to print off for the littler ones.

 

[Eljay]

Could you do something using a golf cart?
How about an archery game?
Name tags that say "Howdy!"
Use pinecones for decorations.
Pictures of horses.
Do you have a fireplace to light?
Toast marshmallows.

 

[aristocatz]

See if you can find silver buckets to serve the chicken in (& maybe other bucket type containers to serve. Make a strawberry shortcake for dessert.

Here is a link to the complete Hoop Dee Doo Revue show on Youtube. You could have the music playing in the background at your gathering
http://www.youtube.com/results?sear....174.2903.9j17.26.0...0.0...1ac.1.yd1E_JxPBww

 

[SandrA9810]

Campfire and roasted marshmallows are a must when I think of the Fort.

Maybe after dinner, have every one use flashlights or camping lanterns to light the living room, and the fireplace.

If you do do trivia, I'd include some regular Disney trivia stuff, either park or movie questions.

If you want to borrow something from Wilderness Lodge, you could do a "Pony Ride" around the dinner table/house at dinner time, like at Whispering Canyon Cafe. And do the "Pass the Ketchup", place a small bottle at each setting to have every one hand it to the first person that asks for it. Then that person has to take all of them to the next person that asks. That would also mean making some french fries, but it'd still go with the dinner menu.

You could do a Pin the Tail on the donkey with trading pins.
If you have a series of pins, like four sets of four. Every one takes one, and tries to put it on the board in order in a 4x4 grid blindfolded. You can use a plain cork board for it.

 

[Phantasia]

The party went so well!

The theme was a hit with everyone (ESPECIALLY the food), but my husband was particularly thrilled and touched by the idea. On Saturday morning, the day before the party, he was musing over breakfast about how much he missed Fort Wilderness, just sitting on the Trading Post porch and listening to the music, watching the lizards scrabble by, etc.

A big thank you to everyone who responded with ideas -- it was extremely helpful. We did a pin trading game, Fort Wilderness trivia, ate our favourites from Trail's End and the Hoop-Dee-Doo, and wore an astounding amount of plaid surrounded by an amazing amount of gingham.

Wanted to share some pics!


Fort Wilderness Theme Birthday Party by Mica_R, on Flickr


Fort Wilderness Theme Birthday Party by Mica_R, on Flickr


Fort Wilderness themed birthday cake - Fort Ryan by Mica_R, on Flickr


Frontier Fixin's at Trail's End by Mica_R, on Flickr


Strawberry Shortcakes by Mica_R, on Flickr


Family Portrait by Mica_R, on Flickr

 

[Eljay]

Fantastic! Thanks for sharing the pics.

 

[McMonsters]

How Fun!

 

[PollyannaMom]

That looks so fun! Your DH is lucky to have such a great wife!