My first Trip Report - Nov. 10th -14th

[Lil' Lisa]

.

 

[Magicbus]

Your girlfriend is beautiful!

She sure is. Tell me she has a southern accent. Oh, as this was her first camping trip, is she still your girlfriend?

 

[itch1]

Nice job so far !!!

 

[WannaBeImagineer]

I'm still here too! Lovin' the report! Your girlfriend is beautiful!

Thanks for following and thank you, I'll pass you're compliments on to her!

She sure is. Tell me she has a southern accent. Oh, as this was her first camping trip, is she still your girlfriend?

Thanks!

No she doesn't really have accent, she was born and raised in Southwest Florida so for me coming from Southwest Louisiana she doesn't really have any accent in my opinion.

But yes! She is still my girlfriend and she loved camping! She can't wait to go back!

Nice job so far !!!

Thank you

 

[blm2003]

Ready for some more, great job so far!

 

[WannaBeImagineer]

Well I’ve finally gotten to Friday night in my pictures. After relaxing all day it was time for the Hoop-de-doo Revue. We got ready a little early an headed over to the campfire sing-along. The girl was interested and wanted to see it. When we got there it was packed! I couldn’t believe how full.

As we were walking up they were starting trivia so we got an answer sheet and participated. I have to admit out of about 10 questions we probably only knew about 4, so we had to guess on the rest.

Well can you believe that we ended up with 7 questions right! I couldn’t! We ended up getting second place, haha I actually felt bad that we had won over some kids but I still went up there to get a prize. The option was a stuffed Chip & Dale or a grumpy looking baby Donald. What didn’t’ make since was they called third, second, then first place, so first place had no option only the leftover. So being the humble person I am I let the first place winner choose.

I got stuck with the weird looking baby Donald… But I'm sure my niece will like it.

Ok moving on.

We got there a little early to check in, that’s when I found this:

I don’t think I had noticed this before, its in the Men’s restroom next to the Hoop-de-doo, I thought it was pretty good so I snapped a pic.

We were in category three seating, and it turned out to be great we got to talk to the characters a few times, including the real Six Bits! He came by looking for birthdays and anniversarys.

That reminds me, while looking down on the category 1 tables, we noticed a family of about 10, that were sitting with 2 castmembers. We realized that we saw this same family the night before in Magic Kingdom, both times they had 2 castmember guides with them, one of the castmembers was always the same guy in a checker print vest. I can't even imagine how much it must cost to have two full time Disney guides with you. The funny part is when Six Bits came over to us, he saw them too and we all laughed and talked about how rich those people must be to have TWO dedicated Disney guides. Jumping ahead a little, the next day in Epcot, we once again saw the family with two guides, this time we over head the checkerd vest castmember asking what they wanted for lunch. It sounded as if he could take them to any restaraunt in Epcot with no reservations...must be nice!

Ok back to the pictures:

We had a great time and were completely stuffed when we left, I snapped this picture of a picture on the way out. I can't remeber the date but I feel like it was in the 70's.

Afterwards I didn’t take any pictures but we did some looping and then hit they hay, Saturday morning we were going to Epcot for rope drop and the plan was to stay all day for the Food and Wine Festival. Our goal was to be there from opening to close (9am to 9pm) and eat or drink something from every country…..

 

[YodaGirl]

Coming in a bit late on the report, but I'm really enjoying it thus far!

I loved the matching Santa Mickey shirts. Ya'll are so cute together! Glad that she enjoyed her first camping trip. Looks like ya'll are having a blast.

 

[anolefan]

Awesome Report!

You guys look like you had a wonderful time.

I love the picture of the wreath.

BTW are you planning on making one of those wood benches? If so let me know and I'll gladly pay you to make one for me also

Keep it coming.

 

[SC DAD of 2]

Come on my fellow Fort Fiends! I can not believe you have not figured out

who this “vacationing” couple really is! Do my eyes deceive me or is that not

Cinderella and Prince Charming. I have seen them in many parades and I am

Sure of it. Seriously, this is one great well told, well photographed TR.

Thanks for sharing.

 

[Lil' Lisa]

Come on my fellow Fort Fiends! I can not believe you have not figured out

who this “vacationing” couple really is! Do my eyes deceive me or is that not

Cinderella and Prince Charming. I have seen them in many parades and I am

Sure of it. Seriously, this is one great well told, well photographed TR.

Thanks for sharing.

You're right! The disguises are good, but I see through them now.

 

[mgsmom]

Joining in and getting caught up!!!

Several things:

What kind of tent is that? I see it's a Coleman but do you know what the name of it is? Looks like it has a hinged door.

Love the matching shirts!

Love the candy cane Mickey ears at your site!

I am a Razorback fan - I always enjoy those great LSU/AR games over Thanksgiving weekend!

Keep the pics coming! What a fun TR!

 

[Tri-circle-D]

Yep. You got the real Six Bits there!

Good job!

And great photos!

Hmmm. I have never noticed this photo before. Very interesting. What is the guy on the other side of the road from Pioneer Hall sitting on? It looks like a modern chair. Weird that the photographer would include that in what appears to be a carefully planned promotional shot. I will have to take a closer look at this on my next visit.

Looking forward to more!!!

TCD

 

[WannaBeImagineer]

Coming in a bit late on the report, but I'm really enjoying it thus far!

I loved the matching Santa Mickey shirts. Ya'll are so cute together! Glad that she enjoyed her first camping trip. Looks like ya'll are having a blast.

Thanks YodaGirl!

I have to admit I love that Santa Mickey shirt, I wear it a lot.

We did have a blast! We love the Fort and can't wait to go back!

Awesome Report!

You guys look like you had a wonderful time.

I love the picture of the wreath.

BTW are you planning on making one of those wood benches? If so let me know and I'll gladly pay you to make one for me also

Keep it coming.

Thank you! We had a great time!

I'm not sure about the log bench yet but I'll let you know. I really want to build one but I'm pretty restricted where I live right now. I'm thinking I might try over Christmas break while visiting the family, they have more room to work.

I will have to find a good log though... I'll keep you updated.

Come on my fellow Fort Fiends! I can not believe you have not figured out

who this “vacationing” couple really is! Do my eyes deceive me or is that not

Cinderella and Prince Charming. I have seen them in many parades and I am

Sure of it. Seriously, this is one great well told, well photographed TR.

Thanks for sharing.

You're right! The disguises are good, but I see through them now.

Wow thank ya'll for the compliments!

I'm pretty sure I'm not a Prince Charming, but I did get lucky with finding Cinderella.

I'll keep the TR coming but its starting to come to an end, I don't have many Fort pictures left.

Joining in and getting caught up!!!

Several things:

What kind of tent is that? I see it's a Coleman but do you know what the name of it is? Looks like it has a hinged door.

Love the matching shirts!

Love the candy cane Mickey ears at your site!

I am a Razorback fan - I always enjoy those great LSU/AR games over Thanksgiving weekend!

Keep the pics coming! What a fun TR!

Thanks for joining in!

Honestly I don't remember what model tent it is, its 4 years old or so, but I'll take a look tonight for you. To answer you're question though it does not have a swing type door.

Thanks I really liked the shirts, they made for some good photopass pictures too.

You know I got those candy cane Mickey lights from the Disney outlet for over half off, I couldn't pass them up!

Those LSU/AR games are always good, more so for you recently, but still great to watch.

Yep. You got the real Six Bits there!

Good job!

And great photos!



Hmmm. I have never noticed this photo before. Very interesting. What is the guy on the other side of the road from Pioneer Hall sitting on? It looks like a modern chair. Weird that the photographer would include that in what appears to be a carefully planned promotional shot. I will have to take a closer look at this on my next visit.

Looking forward to more!!!

TCD

Thanks TCD! Yeah you'll have to check out those pictures on the second floor of Pioneer Hall, they're pretty good.

 

[WannaBeImagineer]

Thanks for following along everyone!

Well its now Saturday morning, our plan was to make rope drop at Epcot and stay all day eating our way around the Food and Wine Festival. So we woke up early, got ready, made some coffee and quick breakfast and headed to the outpost to catch the bus. We didn’t have magic pixie dust so we had to wait a little for the bus but it wasn’t a big deal. It gave me some time to show the girl the stables and where the new TCD barn will be built.

Here’s a shot of the stables, you can see the tops of the horses already saddled and ready for a ride, this is around 8:20am, I didn’t realize they had trail rides that early??

We made it in time for rope drop, we didn't push our way to the front though, we hung back a little and just went with the crowd over to Soarin where we still got on the first flight of the day!

After that we headed over to Finding Nemo and rode it, there was no line, we hadn't done it before so it was neat to see the themeing and aquariums.

After Nemo we tried the Sum of all Thrills for the first time, it was pretty cool, we did the rollar coaster. Thinking back we should have tried all three because there was no line at the time, oh well next time.

I’m going to go ahead and apologize now, our picture taking started slacking at this point, as we were eating and drinking our way around the World Showcase we did take many pictures. We did take advantage of the Photopass but honestly even most of those didn’t come out good.

Oh well we have the memories and I can personally testify that I liked every thing I tried while eating around the world, some of the drinks however weren’t so great..

If you haven’t been to the Food and Wine Festival I highly suggest it.

I think we started towards Mexico, no wait first we got a pastry somewhere for breakfast. Anyway we typically got one item from each booth and shared it, I think we only skipped 3 or 4 booths in entire world showcase. We made it all the way to China when we realized we didn't get a passport. In case you didn't know they have special free (yes Free) passports for the Food & Wine so we headed back to near the Christmas tree at the front of world showcase to get one from the Vacation Club booth.

At that point we headed towards Canada; we even watched the movie there. The rest of the day we were singing “O Canada” lol.

We also watched Impressions while in France, it was very nice, the music was so soothing I almost fell asleep though.

Then in Japan we watched the drummers:

In America, we saw the Voices of Liberty and then watched the American Adventure, it was great as always.

In Italy we checked out the new pizza place, I keep hearing its great but since were eating constantly all day at the Festival booths we didn't try it, next time though we will for sure.

As you can probably tell, the sun was setting and we were heading BACK to Canada. I wish I knew how many miles we walked that day, we were worn out. We walked back and forth around the showcase more times than I can remember, eating and drinking the whole time.

At this point around 8pm, we started debating if we should hold out for Illuminations. We both really like it but we have been in Epcot since 9am, and walking around the showcase since before 11am we decided we would rather enjoy our last night at the Fort. So we headed to the buses.

I snapped this shot of the moon and Spaceship earth on the way out.

The lights on our golf cart:

Once back at the Fort we did some looping, got a warm drink, and made it to the beach in time to watch the Electric Water Pagent. It was crowded, but we found a quiet place and enjoyed it one last time.

We then looped some more looking at all the Christmas decorations, then lit a campfire at the campsite, after some smores and warm apple cider we turned in for the night.

Up next, check out, breakfast at Trails End, then Hollywood Studios...

 

[caveat lector]

Thanks for following along everyone!
.....

At this point around 8pm, we started debating if we should hold out for Illuminations. We both really like it but we have been in Epcot since 9am, and walking around the showcase since before 11am we decided we would rather enjoy our last night at the Fort. So we headed to the buses.
....
[/COLOR]

Cool pic!!!!!! It does a great job of capturing the Christmas Tree with a giant golf ball as the back drop. Seriously, I don't remember seeing one that was framed this cool.

 

[kampfirekim]

Finally after interruption after interruption...I have read your entire TR.

Great job. Your trip report is like....two barrels of fun. And you got the photos of the two barrels of fun to prove it.

You and your GF are def Cindy and the Prince incognito. Go ahead and admit it....you like to blend in with the common folk every now and then. It's ok all Prince's and Princesses do that every now and then.

I have sincerely enjoyed it so far! Can't wait for the rest.

 

[WannaBeImagineer]

Cool pic!!!!!! It does a great job of capturing the Christmas Tree with a giant golf ball as the back drop. Seriously, I don't remember seeing one that was framed this cool.

Thank you I really like it too!

Finally after interruption after interruption...I have read your entire TR.

Great job. Your trip report is like....two barrels of fun. And you got the photos of the two barrels of fun to prove it.

You and your GF are def Cindy and the Prince incognito. Go ahead and admit it....you like to blend in with the common folk every now and then. It's ok all Prince's and Princesses do that every now and then.

I have sincerely enjoyed it so far! Can't wait for the rest.

Thanks KFK! Glad you like it and got caught up!

But again I'm no Prince, I just some how managed to get the princess.

I think this report is coming to an end, probably only two more posts to go.

WBI

 

[Tri-circle-D]

I think this report is coming to an end, probably only two more posts to go.
WBI

Boo!

I don't want this trip report to end.

In case I don't get a chance to say this before it ends, you really did a great job with your report, both with the writing and the photos. I hope to read your second trip report some time soon!

And, I feel compelled to give you some unsolicited advice:

I don't know how long you have been dating the princess (I like that name much better than "the girl"), but if I were you, I would be out shopping for a ring. Princesses who like camping and the Hoop Dee Doo Review don't come around every day. I'm just sayin'.

TCD

 

[WannaBeImagineer]

Boo!

I don't want this trip report to end.

In case I don't get a chance to say this before it ends, you really did a great job with your report, both with the writing and the photos. I hope to read your second trip report some time soon!

And, I feel compelled to give you some unsolicited advice:

I don't know how long you have been dating the princess (I like that name much better than "the girl"), but if I were you, I would be out shopping for a ring. Princesses who like camping and the Hoop Dee Doo Review don't come around every day. I'm just sayin'.

TCD

Thanks TCD, I'm honered that the king of trip reports likes mine. Now I just need to work on the next trip!

Thank you for the advice also, I have to agree that princesses that like camping are very rare, and I know there isn't another princess like this one anywhere! I'll see what I can do about that shopping and keep everyone updated...

 

[WannaBeImagineer]

It’s now Sunday morning, the last day of the trip, which is always sad, cause now we have to go back to the real world.

But it’s still morning and not time to start thinking about the real world. So we got up and started breaking down camp. By 10am we were packed up, cleaned up and ready for breakfast. We had intended to go eat at Trails End before checking out, but at 10am there was a 20 minute wait, even though its was very empty. So rather than sit and wait we decided to return the cart and move my truck to the overflow lot.

By the time we took the internal bus back to Trails End it was 10:30 and we were seated right away. We had a great breakfast and ate to much.

I snapped this random picture of the rafters, not real sure why I guess I liked the all the decorations and construction?

Here's a picture of me wrestling a bear.

After breakfast we took our time walking through the campground, we stopped at the Meadows Trading post for some last minute shopping and then hopped in the truck and drove over to Hollywood Studios.

Here’s the Christmas tree in front of the main gate:

At this point I think it was close to noon, I told the "Camping Princess" (yes I changed her name, it sounds better than "the girl" haha) that all the fast passes for Toy Story Mania would be gone by now but she didn't believe me...sure enough they were all gone and the standby line was out the door with over a two hour wait. The CP has never rode Toy Story Mania so she still doesn't know how fun it is, I guess that'll be a top priority on the next trip.

So we headed over to Rockin Roller Coaster and got Fast Passes, the return wasn't until 5:30pm, holy Fort it was crowded. We then went to Tower of Terror, it only had about a 20 mintue wait.

Isn't the design of this ride great, it has a ton of detail.

The Camping Princess survived but remembered how much she is scared of Tower of Terror.

Then we took our time walking around and avoiding the crowds. We got to see One Man's Dream, I agree with TCD the new additions are great.

The rest of the day kind of all runs together in my memory, sorry, I should have written this weeks ago. I know we walked around avoiding lines doing things with lesser crowds.

Here's some pictures from walking around:

Then a crazy thing happend and I found these baloons!

Ok just kidding, its photoshopped, but I think its funny.

We saw quite a few street shows:

At some point we went over to Starring Rolls Café, I had read on the Disboards about a carrot cake cookie and we wanted to try it! It turned out that it wasn’t in Starring Rolls, it was right next door at the Villain place. But it was worth the find!

The cookie was huge and great! I recommend trying it! Sorry I didn't take a picture we were too distracted with eating it!

Then we got blocked by the parade, so we watched part of it. My nephew was a big Woody fan when he was little so every time I see him I have to take a picture:

At some point we rode the great movie ride, then we started to watch Beauty and the Beast but left after the second song so we could make an American Idol show. It was pretty entertaining.

We tried to see the Muppets 3D all day but the line was outside the building everytime, we didn't want to wait so we passed.

This picture of Kermit reminds me. Has anyone ever been to Jellyrolls, the dueling piano bar at the Boardwalk? One of the piano players does a spot on Kermit impression and sings the "Rainbow Song" if you haven't seen it you should. You can also request him to play Mario Brothers, trust me its funny.

This is on streets of American before the lights came on:

Before we knew it, it was time for Rockin Roller Coaster so we headed over. The park was still crowded, even with the fast pass we still had a 20 or 30 minute wait.

The ride was awesome as always!

By now it was getting dark so we headed back to the streets of America for the Osborne Spectacle of Dancing Lights.

I got quite a few pictures, including some photpass ones, and a few videos but here are a few good ones:

I've reached my limit for this post so I have one more to go...