I send all the newbies with questions your way.... I'm surprised they haven't found you. Welcome back. did you take notes last time? When are you going in December? We'll be there for NYE>
That's hilarious. We're going back the same timeframe as last time. Dh and I are also taking a weekend trip this year because I have flight credits to burn and it has to be something quick and cheap.
I did take notes! The trip was actually really, well, unreal. I can't get over how lovely it was, how pleasant the staff is, how relaxed we felt in our little loop. It was thousands cheaper than our stay at VWL, but it was a thousand times more magical.
Oh, we did without the cart and were absolutely fine. We did not need it for a second. If we had been in 2000, I would have found it an absolute necessity. But Cottontail Curl was half-empty for most of our trip.
We had incredible weather, but our last two nights it dipped into the 30's. I've never experienced family bonding like that. My 6 year old, who is more like a teen, cuddled up to me to keep warm and it was just so special. To wake up like that and then find ourselves in the Magic Kingdom an hour later, that was just perfect.
Trails End food was some of the best we had in all of WDW, and we ate a LOT. Frankly, I had a better time eating at Trail's End than I did at Le Cellier. (Okay, that's a stretch, but still...)
The only thing I would do differently is take CottontailCurl's advice and take a real coffeemaker. We took Nescafe and it really doesn't mix well with Bailey's. By the end of the trip I was just downing straight Bailey's each morning.

Made for some warm and fuzzy times in MK!
And if Eli is headed to the Fort, send him my way. He can just climb right into my tent and I'll....oh wait, this is a family board. Sorry!