Our holiday trip to Ft. Wilderness cabins w/pics

[Liz]

December 23 - continued

We decided to go back to the cabin and go swimming. I took this on the bus from the Ft. Wilderness marina to our cabin:

Pretty cool actually that it was December 23rd and warm enough to swim! When we got back to the cabin, Mousekeeping was in there finishing up. We grabbed what we needed for the pool and left. We just went to the little pool by the laundry room instead of going to the Meadows. I relaxed in a chair by the pool and took a few pictures while everyone else swam. It was just what we needed.

I told everyone we had dinner reservations at Crystal Palace if they were interested in making it back to Magic Kingdom in time. That got everyone out of the pool and back to the cabin to get ready to return to the park.

Our wonderful mousekeeper had washed our dishes and ran the dishwasher, even the pot with the egg stuck on was clean. It was great!

Dining at the Crystal Palace was another huge splurge and I couldn’t believe we would be paying about $28 per person for dinner. YIKES! Thank goodness for the DDE card.

The food at Crystal Palace was great. It was worth every penny and more. Okay, maybe not more but definitely worth every penny! Everyone was hungry and we ate plenty. Ummm, makes me hungry thinking about it now. The character interaction was okay, not great, but Pooh characters aren’t probably the best fit for teenagers. Pooh stopped and got a picture with Laura then started to move on. I had to tell him wait, wait because I wanted a picture with Jeff too. It wasn’t a problem, but they moved along pretty quickly.

Eeyore was cute and a favorite of mine. I told him we wanted him to be happy and he kind of danced to show that he was!

The last time I ate at the Crystal Palace it wasn't a character meal. In fact it was a traditional cafeteria where you went through the line choosing what you wanted and paying the cashier at the end. That was a long time ago when Magic Kingdom was the only park and I was there with my mom. Good memories!!!

We enjoyed the rest of the evening so much! The temperatures were cooler but not cold, and the crowds were literally non-existent. During the evening we went on Peter Pan and Small World, Pirates, Aladdin, Jungle Cruise, TTA, Buzz and the kids went on Space Mountain. While they were on Space Mountain I bought Laura a Disney World hoodie she had been looking at and got Jeff a t-shirt and saved them both for Chistmas day.

We watched holiday Wishes again from the Tomorrowland bridge. It was a good view but we didn’t get that “surrounded by fireworks” feeling we got from the Crystal Palace area.

We then found a spot on Main Street in the wheelchair area to watch the late showing of SpectroMagic. This was a large area roped off for wheelchairs and their families run by a very efficient CM who directed us to park Laura in her wheelchair no more than 2” from the man next to her. We were allowed to have one person sit on the ground in front of her and the rest would stand behind. There were about four wheelchairs in this large area and we were all crammed together in one little area like sardines! A lady standing behind a wheelchair went around to the front to talk to her sister and stood in front of Laura for a second to say something when Mr. Efficient CM chastised her that she was standing in the area designated for our family! It was pretty funny and we were all feeling quite ridiculous looking at the huge, empty space to the left of us. We were talking with the family next to us saying we would sure like to spread out but we were afraid to! This other lady got up the nerve to talk to the CM and he said he would let us know if we could spread out. When the parade was almost to us he said it would be okay. I know he was just doing his job, but he took it very seriously, much to our amusement!

One of the ladies/girls on the float with Snow White paid special attention to Jeff, which he found quite delightful. He hadn’t discovered how much fun parades could be till this year!

We had such a wonderful evening in the Magic Kingdom, it just couldn’t have been better. Leaving in the afternoon when we were hot and everything was crowded was the best thing we could have done. We dragged ourselves out of the park at 11:45, taking the time to stop on Main Street and soak in the beauty and bask in the only snow in the world that makes me rejoice, the snow on Main Street USA!

When we got back to the cabin I'd say Laura was a little bit tired!

Next: Preparing to leave and Minnie needs a nose job!

 

[MARY-IN-OH]

Yay!! Another terrific installment!! Lovin your trip report,

mary

 

[Liz]

December 24 - Leaving Disney World

The dreaded day had arrived when we had to leave Disney World. Usually on our Florida vacations we visit my parents then spend a week or so at Disney. This is the first time we did Disney first, then headed to Jacksonville to visit the family. I think I like this way best. While its never fun to leave Disney World, it wasn't quite as depressing as going straight back to work. It also made packing and preparing to leave a lot easier and quicker knowing we just needed to get everything in the car and I could sort it out when we got there.

We had an unopened carton of ice cream and a package of marshmallows that we never used at the campfire, which Paul took to one of our cabin "neighbors". They were happy to get them!

When Paul went outside he brought in the dreaded envelope. He said it was on the car! I asked him several times . . . it was on the car??

When we were at the Meadows trading post Friday night (when I bought the laundry soap) we also picked up our purchases we had delivered to the resort. We never really had time or thought to go through them until we were packing the car.

I looked at my Minnie tree topper and gasped! Her nose was broken off and laying at the bottom of her skirt! Oh no!!! I didn’t know if I would have to take her clear back to the place I bought her in Epcot or if they could help me at the Trading Post where I picked her up. I hoped it would be the latter.

We drove to the Trading Post, parking in the small lot that said we could only stay 15 minutes. I showed them what happened to Minnie and said I’d just like a refund because if she broke that easy there was a good chance I’d break her getting her back to Utah. They said they could send a new one directly to my house but my only thought at the time was what if it arrived broken then I’d have to deal with that. I said I’d just like a refund and they said that would be fine. I gave them my receipt, which said I had purchased it with a gift card. Who would have EVER thought the gift card issue would be a huge problem!!!

They said they needed the actual gift card that I purchased it with so they could put it back on. I said I had the gift card . . . somewhere . . . in the piles of suitcases and Christmas tree, everything that was piled in the car without an ounce of space to spare. I almost threw the cards away because they had no value left on them but they were cute and I thought maybe I could use them in the scrapbook.

I told them there was no way I could find that original gift card at that moment. She said when something is purchased on a gift card it is the same as if it was purchased with a VISA, they would need someone’s VISA card to put a purchase back on it and it was the same with the gift card. Geez. I said can’t you put it on a new gift card? They got a new one and couldn’t figure out how to get it to work. Eventually, after having to call a manager, they just gave me cash back for my broken Minnie. It was quite the ordeal. When I was walking away the lady said “we could have sent you one to your house.” I just ignored the comment and left because I didn’t want to get into it with her.

We drove to the Polynesian and parked in their lot. Laura had been wanting to ride the monorail and, if there was time, we would have liked to have rented the mouse boats. If I could stay anywhere on Disney property it would be the Polynesian, but unless I win the lottery that isn’t going to happen. Its so beautiful though. My mom and I stayed there a few times a long, long time ago, before it became so expensive. Can you imagine paying $60 a night for the Poly?

We boarded the monorail and rode to the Grand Floridian to see their decorations and the Gingerbread house, including a hidden Mickey!

And a glorious Christmas tree:

We bought some gingerbread (a shingle) and got back on the monorail. When it stopped at the Magic Kingdom I wanted to get off so bad and go back in!!!

We arrived back at the Polynesian and decided we probably didn't have time to rent the boats. My mom was expecting us at 3:00. She'd been waiting a year and a half to see us so I didn't want to be late.

We got in the car, heading for the exit. On our way to the freeway we passed a sign for the Animal Kingdom Lodge exit and I suggested we look at it as we have never been there. I said we wouldn't have time to go in but we could drive past and see what it looked like. I was out voted and it was decided if we went all the way in the parking lot we had to go in! Upon entering the lobby we had a “wow” moment that reminded me of when we entered the Wilderness Lodge for the first time. Jeff said he wants to stay there someday. It was awesome!

Their Christmas tree was beautiful:

We spent a few minutes outside looking at the animals and then it was time to leave:

And that was the end of our Disney vacation and the beginning of planning for our next one!

Next: Final Thoughts

 

[Liz]

Just a few final observations . . . .

Cabins

I loved everything about the cabin from the space to spread out to the way the floors creaked when we walked. It was great having a fridge and a microwave, two televisions, and how many times in your life do you get to sleep on a bed that comes out of the wall??

Ft. Wilderness

While we all really loved the cabins, none of us really “bonded” with FW (sounds crazy, I know). Some people think the Dolphin doesn’t have the Disney feel to it. We stayed there and were so happy and thought it had 100% of Disney magic. We all agreed staying in the cabin didn’t feel like we were at Disney.

Being able to take the boat to Magic Kingdom was great, but having to take a bus to get to and from the marina kind of cancelled out that benefit. The internal bus system worked fine though, and I don’t think renting a golf cart is essential to having a nice experience at the resort.

We also missed having a food court, and crazy as it sounds, I missed going down early in the mornings or after returning from the parks to get our mugs refilled. I know FW has refillable mugs although I never saw them and when I asked at the Meadows trading post the CM didn’t know what I was talking about. I didn’t want to buy one but was curious to see what they looked like.

Trails End is still a favorite of ours and we’ll go back, even if we aren’t guests of FW. We are glad we stayed there once, but none of us have a particular desire to return. And isn’t it nice there are so many resorts to suit everyone’s different tastes!

Segway Tour

Definitely the highlight of our trip! I would recommend it to anybody, including fellow klutzes! Everyone agrees it’s a must do on our next visit! I wish they’d have a tour at Magic Kingdom, MGM & Animal Kingdom too!

Year of a Million Dreams

Maybe we were in our own little world but we never saw a Dream Team around the parks or witnessed anyone else being a recipient of a dream. Congrats to those who received something but for us it was a “non-event”.

DDE vs. Dining Plan

I debated and debated about whether we should purchase the dining plan for this trip. I ran the numbers forward and backward until I was so confused (it doesn’t take much!) In the end we went with an annual pass and DDE so we could get a discount on the cabin.

When Jeff got sick and I was worried everyone else was going to get it too, I thought to myself I was glad we didn’t have the dining plan because I could see that money going right out the window. But having our meals pre-paid would be wonderful. I didn’t think twice about what the HDDR cost because it was paid for months before arrival, but it did make me pause to have a dinner that cost about as much as one night at Pop Century (the character dinner at Crystal Palace!) So I guess I’m still on the fence about the dining plan, although I’d like for us to try it one day.

Christmastime at Disney

I had been to Disney World during the holidays with my mom back in the 70’s but this was the first time for the rest of my family. I am so happy they got to experience it! From the Spectacle of Dancing Lights to Mickey’s Christmas Party and snow on Main Street, everything was great! The only thing I missed, just a little bit, was the regular park music which was replaced with Christmas music (that repeated itself quite a lot by the time our week ended).

Weather

My husband said he likes going in the summer better because when we’re with my family a big part of our stay is enjoying the beach and this time it was too cool for swimming. The rest of us think it’ll be hard to go back in the heat of summer. We never opened our rain ponchos once during the entire week and while I know it could have been quite cold it wasn’t!

Another problem with going in the summer is there’s no way we could save enough money by this summer (and I refuse to go into debt for the trip) unless Uncle Sam is especially kind. And if we wait till summer 2008 (gasp!) I wouldn’t be able to get two uses from my AP and the DDE! I see a battle brewing!!

Winging It!

While its good to have a basic plan of what you are going to do, I don’t think our days would have been quite so spontaneous had I not left the itinerary at home. And that turned out to be a good thing! I learned that going back to the resort in the middle of the day can be a nice break and I never knew what fun the late, late hours at the parks can be! I even learned that sleeping in once in awhile isn’t going to ruin the whole day!

What’s Next?

Laura graduates high school this year so she’ll get to choose our next resort. She gave me several she’d be happy with and yesterday I made reservations for December (subject to change) at Caribbean Beach Resort (also subject to change if some good AP discounts come out)! We’ve never stayed there but we’re excited and ready to start planning our next adventure.

Thanks to everyone who came along on this adventure with us! Its been fun!

 

[Crazy4Disney72]

I really enjoyed your TR and the pictures! It's so nice to see a family with older kids still vacationing together and enjoying themselves. That segway tour looks like so much fun! Thanks for taking the time to write and share your trip report!

 

[riopooh]

Liz - Thank you so much for the report - your family is lovely and it sounds like you really enjoyed the parks and the time spent together.

I was very excited to read about your Segway experience. I have one booked for my sister and I for our upcoming trip. I feel kind of quilty that I did't even consider booking it with ny DH - but he gets to play golf so it will just be my sister and I - we're leaving the men to deal with the kids!!

 

[Liz]

Liz - Thank you so much for the report - your family is lovely and it sounds like you really enjoyed the parks and the time spent together.

I was very excited to read about your Segway experience. I have one booked for my sister and I for our upcoming trip. I feel kind of quilty that I did't even consider booking it with ny DH - but he gets to play golf so it will just be my sister and I - we're leaving the men to deal with the kids!!

Thanks so much! You will love the Segways!! They are awesome! After hearing about it your husband will probably want to go back and do it with you and you'll get to go twice! I hope you have a wonderful trip!

 

[MARY-IN-OH]

Wonderful report, Liz! I wish we would have done a little sightseeing on our last day like you did. I had Animal Kingdom Lodge and riding the monorail on my wish list, but didn't get to it! That's OK, though, there's always next time! Oh, and thanks to your pictures, Jeff wants to do the segway tour next time we go!

Tell Laura that I picked Caribbean Beach for "next time" too! I have read some nice things about how it is like having a "vacation" from "vacation" there! It has been fun getting to know you and your terrific family!
mary

 

[Liz]

Wonderful report, Liz! I wish we would have done a little sightseeing on our last day like you did. I had Animal Kingdom Lodge and riding the monorail on my wish list, but didn't get to it! That's OK, though, there's always next time! Oh, and thanks to your pictures, Jeff wants to do the segway tour next time we go!

Tell Laura that I picked Caribbean Beach for "next time" too! I have read some nice things about how it is like having a "vacation" from "vacation" there! It has been fun getting to know you and your terrific family!
mary

Hi Mary! I think Caribbean Beach looks like a lot of fun and very relaxing! Thanks so much for sticking around and reading my little trippie!!

Thanks to everyone who read a little or a lot!

 

[Disney owl]

Really enjoye d your report & photos

We have stayed in the cabins at DLParis &it was interesting to see your cabin

 

[Liz]

Really enjoye d your report & photos

We have stayed in the cabins at DLParis &it was interesting to see your cabin

Wow, I didn't know DLParis had cabins! It would be fun to see your pics!