Our trip report begins!!!

[chanson2]

I am so enjoying your trip report! We are origianally from IL, so remember it well. Now we are in NC so only 10 short lovely hours from the World...

 

[CampingBandit]

Made it – you guessed it 2 hours before we stopped for bathroom and gas. At least gas is cheaper here, we were paying about $.60 more a gallon back home.

We thoroughly enjoyed the ride thru the Tennessee hills.

The Monteagle pass was exhilarating (we’ve not towed the TT on grades this steep.)

The views were breathtaking. Saw a big helicopter hovering over the side of the highway lifting trees out of ravines (or something).

Took lots of pics that people might find boring and the pics never do the scenery justice. Dave notices a campground right on a lake and agrees to come back and camp in the area to see the sights.

What’s neat here is its still Fall/changing of colors - whereas back home the trees have been bare for a few weeks now.

We stopped just North of Atlanta for another pit stop and to get lunch, KFC. To which my daughter asked “why didn’t we get KFC in Kentucky?” Did I mention how much Bandit likes KFC? I must say though there certainly is a shortage of those Waffle House establishments. Someone really needs to do something about that. One shouldn’t have to drive more than 2 miles to find one.

Ok, so the Atlanta Bypass as a bit scary, we took the exit that said West Birmingham/Tampa and began to panic that it was the wrong direction….so we exited it our first chance and pulled out the computer to check the maps. Attention Georgia DOT, you need better signage! If we are headed South on I-75 and we get on the bypass, it would be helpful if you offered a southern choice as well “to Southbound I-75” instead of just “East” and “West”! Of course after a bit it’s very clear we are going in the right direction but at first total panic…How confusing!!! Traffic moving at a steady 50mph then suddenly at the Exit for US 20 we slam on the brakes, not sure why yet…oh of course just merging traffic for the exit. Rolling my Eyes. Other than that one hiccup the Bypass has been relatively painless. 1pm on a Friday has worked for us.

The kiddies are asleep, oh how nice the peace and quiet is…
Well that didn’t last long.

One last stop for gas, etc., and an ice cream snack. 2 hours to go… We saw a white SUV that said “Mickey or Bust!” on the back windshield! Someone else headed to Disney!

Oooh look, A cotton field!

Oooh a Stuckey’s! I didn’t know they still had Stuckey’s! I need to get out more.

Yes, I’m that bored, and two of the movies I rented to watch are lame. ½ hour into each and that’s enough for me…

Um, this stretch of Georgia had a distinct, um, smell… had to close off the outside air. Smelled like rotting garbage…

The kids are now slap happy. 9 hours is their limit per day. No more 10 hour car rides. EVER… we are finding we enjoy country music (since that’s the only stations we seem to get in…) All of the “car games” Dave created are in a crumpled mess under the back seat. Whoever invented the DS is a GENIUS!!!

Now I’m the one asking, ARE WE THERE YET??? 2 hours? Try three…

Oh crudd…it’s getting dark and we are still at least 30 minutes away. We have never arrived anywhere to set up in the dark… hope this doesn’t bite us…considering that RVParkreviews – some of the reviews say the roads are very narrow…uh oh.

It seems as though the closer we get the farther away it seems…17 miles to go….

Arrived at 5:30. Office closed. Being the inexperienced KOA campers we are, we didn’t know what to do when we arrived and the office was closed. The pull thru area was to the right, we could see that as we entered…and it looked full. The office was off in the distance, at the end of the neighboring (vacant) strip mall, and was obviously closed.

I had just read a post on RVparkreviews that “the office closes early on weekends; we just picked a site and checked out in the morning.” So I told Dave lets pick a site and set up, we had prepaid. So we took the last available pull thru in the section to the right of the (what appeared to be) old office. The section to the South on the other side of the pond, looked like Seasonals (from the distance in the dark …we didn’t want to drive that way not knowing what to expect towing a 37ft trailer.) Anyway, our site - not the best site in the world, we might as well be on the shoulder of I-75.

It’s so short we had to park our truck in a nearby empty back-in site, something we could see other big-rigs doing. But we were tired and crabby after a 10 hour+ drive.

So after we unhitched and put out the slides, Dave walked over to the office and found our reservation form waiting for us outside of the office, placing our site on the Southern end of the campground…in the “seasonal” section, LOL - how wrong we were…how inexperienced…hahahaha

Spoke to Kenny from Tee-time to arrange a delivery time; how nice he is. Can’t wait for tomorrow!

Made a quick dinner of soup and rolls, and now we are relaxing (read: having a cocktail ) watching the new “Star Trek”; discussing the first rides we wanted to go on, and how we plan to bribe the kids to try TOT again (they hated it in 2005)…

Tomorrow: Journey to the Fort!!!

 

[OK GRUMPY]

 

[Judy in Texas]

Having fun following your trip. One week to WDW!

 

[lklasing]

Great TR! Looking forward to more.

Leslie

 

[daddyphat808]

Great so far! Makes our 4 hour trip north seem like child's play. But the fella that made the DS needs a hand shake and a beer for sure!

 

[DaveInTN]

Now don't forgot, when traveling south on I-75 in Florida, look for the Cafe Risque signs! You need to see them in time to distract the kids so they look the other way!!

 

[CampingBandit]

After a very nice night of sleep (we didn’t notice the road noise at all), I woke at 5:45 to begin to get ready. We packed up, ate breakfast and we were pulling out of the campground at 8am. It looks very nice in the daytime, and the location is good with plenty of shopping and restaurants and gas stations that accommodate big rigs.

Saw our first armadillo. It was dead on the side of the road. Can’t hardly wait to get to the Fort!

Going to make a pit-stop in Ocala and find a Wal-mart to pick up a few things – I recall the Kissimmee Wal-mart to be a bit out of the way…
Okay, so the Ocala Wal-mart was out of the way too. Took us some time to find it and the parking/location was an issue. And at exit 350, try finding a gas station for big rigs! 45 minutes after exiting the highway for our “quick stop”….We ended up at the Sam’s Club gas station, which of course was members only but we were committed at this point. A nice lady in the next lane gave us her card to use. Thank you who ever you are!

Only an hour away, if we ever get going….

Pretty smooth going on the turnpike. Expensive tolls! I really gotta go but I don’t want to make Dave stop AGAIN…. Almost to Exit 8 for Disney. Finally. It’s very dry here, must be drought conditions?

Exit 8!!!

We’re here….sort of! 12:30 – We are meeting Omar at 1pm….Oh look an armadillo!

12:40 Woohoo! The FORT!!!

Okay only took us two hours (during which DS had a blast capturing lizards) to semi-set up. Its funny how quickly your body adjusts to cold weather back home, we are dying – dripping in sweat from doing very little. LOVE IT! It was 34 back home this morning….hahaha

Met Omar, the nicest guy ever… had a heck of a time trying to figure out how to get back in to the Fort from the overflow lot – I’m sure I didn’t do it right but whatever…LOVE the golf cart from Tee-time.

DD 11 is already in her suit and pestering us to go to the pool. Dave went to the Meadow Trading Post to see about extra cable…our connection is in the rear of the trailer and the cable we brought isn’t long enough.

After repositioning so our sewer hose would reach….we are basically good to go. The Christmas décor can wait. 7pm ressie for Whispering Canyon…can’t wait.

Ok, priorities, a cocktail, a swim and where do I put my Disboards sign???

Later Y'all

 

[Dizney_Luver]

Glad you made it safe! Have a Wonderful Time!

 

[pell]

Camping Bandit,
I can feel your excitement!! Hope you have a marvelous time at the World. BTW, you sure do have your priorities straight. Cocktails, Pool, Disboard sign,... maybe your refillable mugs should come next?

 

[LuckyinGa]

Totally enjoyed riding along with your family to the Fort. Glad you made it safe. Have a wonderful time.

 

[DaveInTN]

What loop are you in?

 

[CampingBandit]

We're in the 500 loop. We like the location....

Silly questions, do we have to follow the arrows on our golf cart within our loop? We're almost at the end of our loop and it's a bit inconvenient to go all the way around in the direction of the traffic arrows.

Also where can we purchase/refill the mugs ? (aside from the snack bar we can't find them... and the snack bar is only open from 11-5. As a Diet Coke addict, that's just not gonna work....

 

[avic77]

Now don't forgot, when traveling south on I-75 in Florida, look for the Cafe Risque signs! You need to see them in time to distract the kids so they look the other way!!

My husband keep threatening to make a pit stop there

 

[DaveInTN]

We're in the 500 loop. We like the location....

Silly questions, do we have to follow the arrows on our golf cart within our loop? We're almost at the end of our loop and it's a bit inconvenient to go all the way around in the direction of the traffic arrows.

Also where can we purchase/refill the mugs ? (aside from the snack bar we can't find them... and the snack bar is only open from 11-5. As a Diet Coke addict, that's just not gonna work....

I could be wrong....and I quite often am....but I believe you do need to follow the directional arrows with any motorized vehicle including GC's. 500 is our usual loop so I can picture exactly where you are. Maybe someone else knows the rules better, but I think you probably need to go all the way around unless your site is right there at the end and it would be ridiculous to do that. For instance, if you are in 553-556, and you stop and look and no one is coming....well, you know what I mean. But any deeper into the loop and I'd probably go around.

Also, I think you can get the mugs and refill them at Trail's End. Go in the door to the left of the check in stand, where the take out counter is. Check there.

We hope to be arriving in your loop on Wednesday! I'll look for you. I hope you don't take that as a threat.

 

[disney4dan]

Been enjoying this post, love the way you write. Hope everyone is enjoying the Fort and the parks!

 

[pell]

Yes, these can be purchased and refilled at Trail's End and Meadow's Trading Post. Hope you find enough Diet Coke there to keep you going!!

 

[Disney John]

What a great TR. I felt like I was on the ride with you. I got so exited for you when you arrived !!!! Have a great time and keep up the reports.

John

 

[CampingBandit]

So I rented an ECV from Walker and the nice gal at the main building helped get me started. I took it back to my loop on the walking path. Wondering all the while “how is this ever going to work the battery will die before I make it to/from the bus stop” it will never make thru the day at the parks….I’m beginning to fret that I wasted a few hundred dollars… Wondering why folks are looking at me funny. Didn’t occur to me for at least another hour I should have waited for the internal bus…stooopid!

We lounged by the pool a bit. I’ve seen so many pictures of the pool reno it was a bit surreal to be standing there…. Here’s the kids taking their first plunge…

We took Bandit to the dog park. He was more interested in smelling the smells than playing with any of the dogs. He’s never been to a dog park before. Forgot the camera. Though we had a 7pm ressie and it was 7:50 so we took some time to begin to decorate the campsite. Didn’t get very far, will finish the rest in the morning.

Cleaned up for dinner and left to head to Crocket’s Tavern for a quick beer and some arcade games before catching the launch to WL. Good thing we left early, the boats were crowded and it took us 45 minutes to get to Whispering Canyon.

Bummer lost the pic of us outside of Crocket’s on the rocking chairs… Here we are in front of the HUGE tree at the WL.

Weee Neeed Kettttchuuuuppp!

Our lovely waitress who was amazingly friendly and snuck in the pic!

They did not disappoint – DH helped entertain the crowd with an all male review of “I’m a little teapot”. For some reason I’m not able to upload the video to youtube (my husband would have to change a setting and I don’t think he will willingly do that for this particular video.)

We topped off the day by watching Wishes on the beach – it began just as our launch arrived at the dock.

Slept amazingly, the best in months. Woke up and made a nice big breakfast of bacon, eggs, hashbrowns…much to the dismay of my neighbors – I’m fairly certain we woke them up. Dave went in search of the mugs. Eureka! Success.

Today our plan is to take it easy all day and then hit MK for the EMH. We’re shooting to close it!!! LOL I doubt the kids will make it but we’re sure gonna try. Just cuz we can.

 

[sshane]

I've been very much enjoying your trip report. It sounds like we take almost the same route as you guys. We'll be heading down in January and I'm really excited now! Thanks for posting and I look forward to further updates!