Home and we had a fabulous time!

loislane

DIS Veteran
Joined
Aug 10, 2008
Messages
1,337
We actually got home late Friday after an adventurous trip home - blown tire on the camper and then the camper jumped off the hitch (probably because of the earlier flat tire) and it all happened at highway speeds on 95 in Florida. We joked that Disney didn't really want us to leave!

Aside from our travel adventures, our stay at the Fort was wonderful. We liked our site for the most part, but we were close enough to the road to hear the buses as they went by. It didn't really keep us up or wake us up, so it was ok - got used to it fairly quickly I guess. Or we were just so exhausted that it didn't matter! LOL! All 5 of us slept great in the popup and the Reflectix on the bunks did the job. Most of the time, we only had to run the AC on low and it stayed around 67 in the popup. Can't complain.

The Fort is just gorgeous and I got to fulfill two Florida wishes - seeing an armadillo and seeing a gator. Ok, the gator was just a little one in one of the canals across from our site, but I was still excited to see it. My oldest and I were fishing when it came out and it actually grabbed my son's bobber a few times! Exciting for us New Yorkers, for sure!

Crossed a ton of stuff off our Disney wish lists, including the Kitchen Sink sundae (even with 5 of us, we couldn't finish it), the trail ride, the Characters in Flight balloon, seeing shows and more. In hindsight though, I wish I wore my poncho when we rode Kali. Only one person on the ride got drenched, and YUP, it was ME!!! Six hours later and my clothes were STILL damp, but I had just given up on being dry at that point. LOL.

My husband and oldest golfed at Oak Trail and enjoyed it. We have a golf course on our street here at home, but I think the Disney course ruined it for my husband. ;)

Big highlight for our kids? Being on the "big screen" at the Monster's Inc. Laugh Factory. They called us the glow in the dark family (we were all wearing glow necklaces that night) and everyone had to say "No way!" every time they showed us.

A highlight for me? Snorkeling across the shark reef at Typhoon Lagoon. I tend to get claustrophobic, so just being able to snorkel was a big thing for me. But I'm terrified of sharks, so facing that fear - albeit in a relatively safe environment -was a big rush for me. I will never forget that experience. And my kids will never forget hearing "Hey, there's Dory" out of my snorkel as a blue tang swam right in front of my face.

Wishes on the beach, Mary Poppins scolding the oldest for being mean to his siblings, getting my Grand Marnier slushie, parades, rides, drinking Beverly, dancing with characters, meeting some green army guys, getting a kiss from Buzz Lightyear, and more. Our trip was just filled with magic.

It must have been magic - because my husband said last night that we should drive down twice a year to camp and play! He must have drank the Kool Aid when I wasn't looking! ;)
 
We actually got home late Friday after an adventurous trip home - blown tire on the camper and then the camper jumped off the hitch (probably because of the earlier flat tire) and it all happened at highway speeds on 95 in Florida. We joked that Disney didn't really want us to leave!

Aside from our travel adventures, our stay at the Fort was wonderful. We liked our site for the most part, but we were close enough to the road to hear the buses as they went by. It didn't really keep us up or wake us up, so it was ok - got used to it fairly quickly I guess. Or we were just so exhausted that it didn't matter! LOL! All 5 of us slept great in the popup and the Reflectix on the bunks did the job. Most of the time, we only had to run the AC on low and it stayed around 67 in the popup. Can't complain.

The Fort is just gorgeous and I got to fulfill two Florida wishes - seeing an armadillo and seeing a gator. Ok, the gator was just a little one in one of the canals across from our site, but I was still excited to see it. My oldest and I were fishing when it came out and it actually grabbed my son's bobber a few times! Exciting for us New Yorkers, for sure!

Crossed a ton of stuff off our Disney wish lists, including the Kitchen Sink sundae (even with 5 of us, we couldn't finish it), the trail ride, the Characters in Flight balloon, seeing shows and more. In hindsight though, I wish I wore my poncho when we rode Kali. Only one person on the ride got drenched, and YUP, it was ME!!! Six hours later and my clothes were STILL damp, but I had just given up on being dry at that point. LOL.

My husband and oldest golfed at Oak Trail and enjoyed it. We have a golf course on our street here at home, but I think the Disney course ruined it for my husband. ;)

Big highlight for our kids? Being on the "big screen" at the Monster's Inc. Laugh Factory. They called us the glow in the dark family (we were all wearing glow necklaces that night) and everyone had to say "No, really?" every time they showed us.

A highlight for me? Snorkeling across the shark reef at Typhoon Lagoon. I tend to get claustrophobic, so just being able to snorkel was a big thing for me. But I'm terrified of sharks, so facing that fear - albeit in a relatively safe environment -was a big rush for me. I will never forget that experience. And my kids will never forget hearing "Hey, there's Dory" out of my snorkel as a blue tang swam right in front of my face.

Wishes on the beach, Mary Poppins scolding the oldest for being mean to his siblings, getting my Grand Marnier slushie, parades, rides, drinking Beverly, dancing with characters, meeting some green army guys, getting a kiss from Buzz Lightyear, and more. Our trip was just filled with magic.

It must have been magic - because my husband said last night that we should drive down twice a year to camp and play! He must have drank the Kool Aid when I wasn't looking! ;)

Glad you had a great trip! Must have been really scary when your hitch for the trailer came loose. That could have really been a very bad situation. What did you do about it at that hwy. speed? The tire should not have had anything to do with the hitch - they are fastened and locked tight.

Anyway, glad you are home safely and had a very enjoyable time! :goodvibes
 
Glad you had a great trip! Must have been really scary when your hitch for the trailer came loose. That could have really been a very bad situation. What did you do about it at that hwy. speed? The tire should not have had anything to do with the hitch - they are fastened and locked tight.

Anyway, glad you are home safely and had a very enjoyable time! :goodvibes

We were very lucky that the 2nd smaller swaybar hitch held so the popup didn't really go anywhere. It was just that it dropped down some and the support post (don't know the technical name, but the thing you crank up and down when hitching and leveling) was scraping the pavement.

We pretty much just pulled over, assessed for damage and rehitched. Some amazingly nice man stopped and helped us.
 
Soooo glad that hitch & tire thingy worked out okay,,but still the hitch thing OMG !! :scared1:

WOW ! It sounds like the absolute perfect vacation ! What a fun packed trip ! I am so happy that ya'll had such'a wonderful magical time !
So have ya'll booked your next trip yet, :rotfl2:.

Now the important question, did ya catch any Mickey Mouse swimmers ?
 

Now the important question, did ya catch any Mickey Mouse swimmers ?

We didn't! Got lots of nibbles, lost a lot of worms, but never hooked one. My son, however, almost hooked a small gator that popped up where we were fishing one day and kept going after his bobber!
 
Did'ja get pics of the fish'n experience anyways ?
We would LOVE to see trip pics from ya'llz whole trip when ya get time to do some post'n, :thumbsup2
 
Wow, I can feel your excitement right through the screen. :woohoo: Glad it was magical and DH got bit by the Fort bug! Thanks for the TR.
 
Sorry to hear about the route 95 adventure, but glad to know you are safe. That will be something to talk about to the grand kids someday. What a well written account of your visit to Disney and the Fort. Gave me a warm feeling and a nice morning smile. I now yearn to get back there (October)!. Thanks to the glow in the dark family for posting. :goodvibes
 
Nice pic, thanks for sharing. What site # was that?
 
We were very lucky that the 2nd smaller swaybar hitch held so the popup didn't really go anywhere. It was just that it dropped down some and the support post (don't know the technical name, but the thing you crank up and down when hitching and leveling) was scraping the pavement.

We pretty much just pulled over, assessed for damage and rehitched. Some amazingly nice man stopped and helped us.

I know your situation well! Civic holiday weekend we went camping to Pennsylvania and went across the Grand Island NY bridge. They were doing construction and we hit a bad patch and the trailer popped up, no issue til we started going down the bridge and the trailer jack hit the pavement. Thank god for chains!
Loved ready your adventures, sounds like all the fun things I enjoy, you did....
I'm glad you had a good trip and you can always joke about the misadventures after. Lol
 
I'm so happy to hear you had a great time! I showed all the kids the pop-up and they were so happy to see it had gotten back to Disney! How scary re: the hitch! Yikes! I'm glad you were all ok! Loved the pictures - it does look like a magical trip.
 
Site 555.

That must be why I didn't see you on the 1600 loop LOL

We got on the 1500 loop. Didn't we luck out with the weather!? I was sooooooo grateful being in a tent and all :thumbsup2

So glad you made it home safe.
 
We actually got home late Friday after an adventurous trip home - blown tire on the camper and then the camper jumped off the hitch (probably because of the earlier flat tire) and it all happened at highway speeds on 95 in Florida. We joked that Disney didn't really want us to leave!

Aside from our travel adventures, our stay at the Fort was wonderful. We liked our site for the most part, but we were close enough to the road to hear the buses as they went by. It didn't really keep us up or wake us up, so it was ok - got used to it fairly quickly I guess. Or we were just so exhausted that it didn't matter! LOL! All 5 of us slept great in the popup and the Reflectix on the bunks did the job. Most of the time, we only had to run the AC on low and it stayed around 67 in the popup. Can't complain.

The Fort is just gorgeous and I got to fulfill two Florida wishes - seeing an armadillo and seeing a gator. Ok, the gator was just a little one in one of the canals across from our site, but I was still excited to see it. My oldest and I were fishing when it came out and it actually grabbed my son's bobber a few times! Exciting for us New Yorkers, for sure!

Crossed a ton of stuff off our Disney wish lists, including the Kitchen Sink sundae (even with 5 of us, we couldn't finish it), the trail ride, the Characters in Flight balloon, seeing shows and more. In hindsight though, I wish I wore my poncho when we rode Kali. Only one person on the ride got drenched, and YUP, it was ME!!! Six hours later and my clothes were STILL damp, but I had just given up on being dry at that point. LOL.

My husband and oldest golfed at Oak Trail and enjoyed it. We have a golf course on our street here at home, but I think the Disney course ruined it for my husband. ;)

Big highlight for our kids? Being on the "big screen" at the Monster's Inc. Laugh Factory. They called us the glow in the dark family (we were all wearing glow necklaces that night) and everyone had to say "No way!" every time they showed us.

A highlight for me? Snorkeling across the shark reef at Typhoon Lagoon. I tend to get claustrophobic, so just being able to snorkel was a big thing for me. But I'm terrified of sharks, so facing that fear - albeit in a relatively safe environment -was a big rush for me. I will never forget that experience. And my kids will never forget hearing "Hey, there's Dory" out of my snorkel as a blue tang swam right in front of my face.

Wishes on the beach, Mary Poppins scolding the oldest for being mean to his siblings, getting my Grand Marnier slushie, parades, rides, drinking Beverly, dancing with characters, meeting some green army guys, getting a kiss from Buzz Lightyear, and more. Our trip was just filled with magic.

It must have been magic - because my husband said last night that we should drive down twice a year to camp and play! He must have drank the Kool Aid when I wasn't looking! ;)
I can definitely empathize with your popping off the hitch misadventure.. In 2010 when we went( with my then 5 months pregnant wife), we stayed the night before down in Ocala, Fl at the nearby KOA. In my haste to get to Disney the next morning, I didn't check to see if the hitch was locked properly. Well, you guessed it.. about 45 minutes from the Fort, the trailer hit a bump and the tongue flew up and the whole rig went sliding under the bumper on the Florida turnpike. Ripped out the wiring and everything. But.. Hats off to the Florida Hwy Patrol. The deputy instantly swung in behind me and helped me remount the trailer. I asked if I should just pull to the shoulder since I had no lighting and he said something along the lines of " No sir, you're almost there.. just get it fixed before you leave to go home. Enjoy your stay!" Really took the sting out of the experience..and.. no citation!
 
That must be why I didn't see you on the 1600 loop LOL

We got on the 1500 loop. Didn't we luck out with the weather!? I was sooooooo grateful being in a tent and all :thumbsup2

So glad you made it home safe.

For the most part, the weather was great! The Sunday we arrived, it poured that night so we didn't do anything, and there was one other night it rained pretty heavy and we just stayed in the camper and watched some TV. But otherwise, it was gorgeous. I didn't even think it was too hot - but then again, I love the heat so I wouldn't complain. In fact, I got too cold inside the AC anywhere, so that was what I complained about - that I needed to go outside and get warm!

Not sure how or why we got bumped to a premium loop, but it was a quick 5-minute walk down to the ferry docks so we didn't mind at all. We ended a lot of our days at MK because it was so nice and easy to ferry back and walk to our site.
 
Thanks for the recap - so much fun re-living the excitement of teh trip with you! Gladd you made it home safe and sound despite some scary moments on the road!
 
Great pictures!!! Thanks for sharing.
So you were the last week of August then? Were crowds pretty good? We're thinking we'd like to hit last week of August next year.
 















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