gweeptrish
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- May 25, 2004
- Messages
- 225
I've been asked to write up a trip report for our July 10th Quest for the West, one of the new tours from Adventures by Disney (hereafter known as ABD).
For those of you who haven't heard of it yet, Disney is looking to get
into the group tour market, specifically the rather under-captured
"family" market. Back in February they did some presentations at DVC
resorts and on the cruise ships, looking for people to test out
itineraries to Yellowstone and to Hawaii this summer. We signed up for
the July 10th "Quest for the West", which turned out to be the first
guest tour. They'd apparently run the tour three times before for
various combinations of employees, working out the bugs and figuring
out the details.
We were told the tours were being offered at a big discount because
they were beta-tests, but we still felt the trip was fairly expensive -
$3696 for two not including airfare (but including the travel
protection insurance). Other than that it was all-inclusive, and I
mean ALL inclusive. Meals, rooms, activities, transportation, tips for
wait-staff, for housekeeping, for the activity guides and drivers. The
initial paperwork we got said it did NOT include tips for the
"Adventure Guides", but then later papers we got said it did. I think
they're still working out details. The only things we paid for out of
pocket were souvenirs, and one wrangler that we felt deserved an extra
tip. Disney kept us well supplied with meals, drinks and snacks. I
should mention that flights into Jackson Hole, Wyoming, are
horrifically expensive. We paid over $400 each for tickets from Boston
to Jackson Hole. It doesn't cost *that* much to fly to London!
About 30 days before we left, we got a box in the mail from ABD
containing two backpacks with the Adventures logo, a silly little
zippered card wallet, and a booklet very similar to the one you get
with your cruise documents. There was also a form to fill out with
your height (for matching you up to a bicycle), whether you wanted to
go horseback riding or hiking on Day 2, and whether you choose
whitewater rafting or the aerial tramway for Day 6. In addition, there was a form for flight info (since we didn't get our flights through ABD), and a form for medical information (which I didn't fill out because we didn't have anything relevant).
The backpacks were very nice. As soon as someone pointed out to me that they'd probably sent the same pack to everyone, I embroidered our names prominently onto ours.
A week before we left I got a call asking if we'd participate in two
phone interviews, for which I would be paid. One was to take place in
the 4 days before we left, and one in the 4 days after we returned.
The pre-trip call, 30 minutes, was all about my expectations, and the
post-trip call was a one hour very detailed review of the trip and what
I liked and didn't like about every part of it. I gotta say, I like
being paid to talk about my vacation!
Day 1:
We left at the crack of dawn on Sunday, July 10th. We arrived at
Jackson Hole around 1pm, not having had a chance to eat at all since
breakfast, since apparently airplanes don't serve meals anymore.
We
were met by our Adventure Guides, Richard and Allison, and were taken
into the town of Jackson Hole for a short while to grab some food.
Then the whole group was gathered up to head out to Jackson Lake Lodge
in the Grand Tetons National Park. The "going into town" part was sort
of a mess, and we ended up with barely enough time to grab some fast
food. I imagine they'll be working on those logistics for the future.
On the way out to the Lodge we stopped at a historical little chapel
whose name escapes me, to look around for a few minutes. A sudden
rainshower cut that short and we continued to the Lodge.
After arriving at the Lodge, Richard and Allison gave us an "here's the
dining room, here's the meeting place for tonight, here's your rooms"
tour and we had an hour or two to unpack and settle before dinner. In
our rooms was a gift bag of goodies. We had a really nice nalgene
water bottle for each of us, a pair of binoculars, a mesh bag, and a
couple bags of trail mix and gummies.
Dinner was a catered buffet for the whole group. We had a cowboy
singer to entertain us, and we played a couple of icebreaker games.
There were 25 guests on this trip: six kids between the ages of 6 and
9, an 11 year old, two teenage sisters, the various parents of the
aforementioned kids, a retired couple, and us. There was also a guy
from marketing along to experience the trip so he could better design
the marketing for it, and the product manager who came along mostly to
meet with the vendors along the way. They were both awfully nice
people.
The food was above-average buffet food, but nothing terribly special.
At dinner we were given "Adventures by Disney" pin lanyards and the
first of what would turn out to be a daily special themed pin.
After dinner we were exhausted, so we went straight to bed.
Day 2
We were up early to be showered, fed and dressed to leave by 9am for
our float trip down the Snake River. We divided up onto three large
rafts and spent two hours leisurely meandering down the river. We saw
so many bald eagles that the excitement kinda wore off. The scenery
was amazing though, especially those mountains. My husband had lived
in New England all his life and he was just amazed by the Grand Tetons.
After rafting we returned to the hotel for lunch. We ate in a real
old-fashioned 50s diner, and of course we had to order burgers and
shakes.
At 2pm we got on the coach (bus) again to head out for our horseback
riding adventure in the Grand Teton National Forest. The outfitter ABD
had selected for us seemed very good. The wranglers gave us all a
brief lesson in how to steer and stop the horse, then matched each
person up with a horse and we set off for a 2 hour ride through the
hills, woods and across the creeks. My husband and I are advanced
riders who own a small horse farm and ride daily, so we were a bit
bored, but the scenery was pleasant and the horses well-behaved.
Back at the hotel we were treated to an hour-long presentation by a
licensed falconer. He brought with him a peregrine and an owl. The
kids were fascinated, and I learned a few things I didn't already know.
(I'm acquainted with a falconer who keeps an owl).
Richard and Allison had made dinner reservations for each family in the
Mural Room for that evening. We asked Mark and Ruthie (the marketing
guy and the product manager) to join us. We like getting to know new
people. The food in the Mural Room was outstanding, especially the
vanilla creme brulee. We talked over dinner until nearly 10pm, then
off to bed.
Day 3
After getting breakfast at the 50s diner, we got our suitcases ready
for a bag pull and checked out of our room. At 9:15 we were on our way
to Jenny Lake for a hike. We took a short ferry ride across the lake,
then hiked to Inspiration Point. It was only a 0.9 mile hike, but with
a 400 foot increase in elevation. Considering we started at 7800 feet
above sea level, it was quite a workout. Again, the scenery was
unbelievable, and we had a ton of fun. I'd actually call this hike one
of the high points of our trip.
After the hike we stopped at a little picnic spot for lunch. We'd
chosen our boxed lunches from a menu the day before, so we just got our
box and found a shady spot to eat. This was probably the first time we
started to really integrate into a group rather than just a bunch of
people traveling together.
After lunch we settled in for the drive to Yellowstone. Richard played
some videos about Yellowstone and some Goofy cartoons to help pass the
time. We also picked up a "step-on" guide who stayed with us for the
day to tell us about Yellowstone.
The first place we stopped in Yellowstone was the West Thumb Geyser
Basin. Richard and Allison passed out "Adventure Ears", which were
headsets with radio receivers. The guide had a microphone and a
transmitter, and the Ears allowed us to hear what he was saying even as
we got all strung out along the boardwalk. I thought they were a
fabulous idea. The thermal features of Yellowstone are pretty freaky,
and hard to describe, so I won't even bother.
After the walk through the basin, we reboarded the bus to go to Lake
Yellowstone Hotel. It's a historic old hotel. The nicest thing I can
say for it is that the food was superb. The dining staff service was
not, unfortunately. Here at the Lake hotel was our first wildlife
encounter, as there was a bull bison having himself a nice nap up
against the back of the hotel annex we were staying in.
We had a "Sunset Surprise" on our Daily Quest (tour version of a
Personal Navigator), which turned out to be a champagne toast on the
lake overlook. We had to move it up to the porch of the hotel after a
few minutes, though, because we were being eaten alive by mosquitos.
Day 4
We were only in the Lake hotel for one night, so we had to again
prepare for an early bag pull. We got breakfast and got on the bus for
more driving around looking at thermal features. For the morning, we
hiked the rim of "The Grand Canyon of Yellowstone", ending up at Artist
Point. I hate to keep saying "the scenery was amazing", but it was.
Again we had a tour guide with us to tell us all about the geology and
volcanic features of the area.
Lunch was that the Canyon Village dining room. It wasn't anything
spectacular, but it was fuel for the afternoon, then we had a bit of
free time to roam the gift shops or just look around. On the way to
lunch we'd driven through Hidden Valley, where all the bison cows and
calves hang out for the summer, so we got to experience the
quintessential Yellowstone "animals in the road" traffic jam. We
visited Fountain Paint Pots mud pits and various other thermal features
on our way to the Old Faithful Inn.
While I knew the Wilderness Lodge at WDW had been modeled on the
turn-of-the-century National Park Lodges, I didn't know they meant Old
Faithful Inn. We love the Wilderness Lodge, so we had a grand time
exploring Old Faithful and seeing the originals of all the little
details that Disney had copied. Oh yeah, and there was some geyser
there too.
Dinner was again by reservation-per-family, and then we had the evening
to ourselves.
Day 5
Bicycling day. After breakfast, we met in the lobby to start our bike
trip to Biscuit Basin. The outfitters for the bike trip were just as
professional and entertaining as the horseback outfitters had been.
They got us all matched up with helmets and onto bikes and off we went.
The trip *to* Biscuit Basin was all down hill and pleasant, except for
the horrible deer flies. No one can control that, though. We walked
around the boardwalks looking at more hot springs and mudpots (can you
tell I was getting a little bored with Yet Another Hot Spring?), then
headed back to the hotel. Now, the problem with all down-hill on the
way out means all uphill on the way back. Half of us didn't make it.
We got about a third of the way back, then voted to coast back down to
the road and wait for the van to come get us. I suspect Disney might
be modifying this part of the trip in the future.
We had a nice lunch of sandwiches and cold fried chicken out on the
patio of the Snow Lodge, then had an hour to browse gift shops before
the afternoon bike ride to Lone Star Geyser. Not everyone choose to go
on that ride; some just hung out at the hotel. We went, and found it a
much easier, more pleasant ride than Biscuit Basin.
After showers and a stop for ice-cream, we headed down to dinner.
Dinner was again by reservation-per-family. We actually wished for
more group dining. We eat alone at home all the time, so it would have
been nice to have had more company. Tonight was the special kids-only
dinner with the Adventure Guides, so I'm sure the parents were happy to
eat alone! The kids went off to a private conference room with Richard
and Allison and a good-sized staff of helpers, where they had hot dogs,
mac-n-cheese, pizza, and ice cream sundaes. They also watched cartoons
and played games.
After the kids-only meal, everyone met back up for the ScavINNger Hunt.
It was just a silly little orienteering game, but it was fun. After
the game Richard passed out our daily pins, and mentioned that we would
probably be wanting to mail postcards. He and Allison then passed out
postcards they'd made for each family from pictures they'd taken
earlier in the week and added the Quest for the West logo to. Everyone
was tickled to death with their postcards and none of us were willing
to mail them!
Day 6
After prepping for bag pull and checking out of the hotel, we boarded
the bus for the trip back to Jackson Hole and the next stage of our
trip. We stopped for a photo opportunity at the continental divide,
then went to the Jackson Playhouse for lunch in a western saloon
complete with saloon girls and singing cowboys. It reminded me a lot
of the Hoop-de-doo Revue. We were given an hour to wander around
downtown Jackson Hole, then boarded the coach to go to our whitewater
rafting outfitter.
There were a few problems with the outfitter, specifically with the bus
that was to take us from the outfitter to the boat launch, but it
eventually got sorted out, we got to the river, and into our rafts.
Matt and I were on the first raft. There were eight passengers and one
guide. We were on the river for almost two hours, but it sure didn't
feel like it. We had a marvelous time, especially over the class 3
rapids. This was definitely a high point of the trip for me.
After rafting (and another minor disaster with the outfitter's bus) we
made it to the Spotted Horse Ranch and got checked in. We all had
individual cabins, most of which overlooked the river that ran through
the ranch. Dinner was family-style ribs and BBQ chicken at large
tables. The food was excellent, and I had a great time talking
horse-stuff with the ranch manager.
After dinner most of the guests went across the river to the
campfire/BBQ pit to listen to a cowboy storyteller. Matt and I skipped
that in favor of a soak in the hot tub and more horsetalk with the
ranch staff, then off to bed.
Day 7
Our morning started off with watching the wranglers bring the horses in
from the hills. They run them free from the pasture, across the bridge
and down to the barn. It was neat to see.
At breakfast we learned that arrangements had been made for Matt and I
to go out on a private ride instead of on the group ride, so we could
ride at our level instead of just nose-to-tail walking. We headed out
with just one wrangler and had a grand old time galloping fields,
climbing difficult hills, fording rivers, and enjoying the scenery, for
about 2 and a half hours. I heard that the group ride didn't go very
well, but I didn't get details.
After lunch back at the ranch house we headed out again on horseback,
this time for a group ride. Only about a dozen people went out on this
one. The rest either rested, did some fly fishing, or played pool in
the ranch house. Apparently the wranglers organized a relay-race for
the kids where they got to gallop, so they had a great time. Our ride
was pretty exciting. We rode a few miles up a canyon, then turned up
the hill to the top of the ridge and rode back on the top of the ridge.
I didn't think there was anything you could do on horseback that would
scare me, but I was wrong. I don't mind a steep dropoff on one side,
but I had a hard time with having steep drops on both sides. The views
were amazing.
After the ride we got showered and changed into clean clothes, we
headed across the river to the BBQ pit for a yummy steak dinner. After
dinner we guests presented Richard and Allison with presents we'd
collectively bought them at Yellowstone. They really were wonderful
guides.
While we were sitting about chatting and playing with the kids, the Big
Cheese himself showed up on the porch of the ranch house across the
river. That's right, Mickey Mouse himself came by the ranch to make
sure we were all having a good time. Watching the children react when
they saw him, and all take off running as fast as they could, screaming
"MickeyMickeyMickeyMickey!!" is one of the best memories of the trip
and they weren't even my kids!
We adults followed at a more reasonable pace. Back at the ranch house
we all got pictures with Mickey and visited with him for a bit before
he had to leave. Then we all trooped into the living room to watch a
wonderful slide show of our vacation that Allison had put together.
There were a few technical difficulties with the equipment but we had
enough engineers with us to sort it out and get through to the end of
the slide show.
After the slideshow the kids and some adult (I got dragged along too)
went back to the BBQ pit to make smores. I hate marshmallows, but I
gagged down the requisite "one marshmallow specially cooked just for
me" from each kid, then called it a night. We would be departing very
early the next morning and wanted to get a decent amount of sleep.
Day 8
The coach took us to the airport at 7:30 am, we caught our 9am flight
and went home.
Overall, I thought it was a great trip. My biggest worry before the
trip was that I wouldn't get along with the other guests, but the other
guests turned out to be the best part of the whole trip. By the end of
the week we had really bonded.
Disney is planning to expand their offerings for the 06 season.
Apparently they're considering Italy, Costa Rica, New Zealand and the
Canadian Rockies, but none of that is actually settled yet.
I also heard that the Yellowstone trip had a 200 person waiting list,
while the Hawaiian trips didn't even sell out.
For those of you who haven't heard of it yet, Disney is looking to get
into the group tour market, specifically the rather under-captured
"family" market. Back in February they did some presentations at DVC
resorts and on the cruise ships, looking for people to test out
itineraries to Yellowstone and to Hawaii this summer. We signed up for
the July 10th "Quest for the West", which turned out to be the first
guest tour. They'd apparently run the tour three times before for
various combinations of employees, working out the bugs and figuring
out the details.
We were told the tours were being offered at a big discount because
they were beta-tests, but we still felt the trip was fairly expensive -
$3696 for two not including airfare (but including the travel
protection insurance). Other than that it was all-inclusive, and I
mean ALL inclusive. Meals, rooms, activities, transportation, tips for
wait-staff, for housekeeping, for the activity guides and drivers. The
initial paperwork we got said it did NOT include tips for the
"Adventure Guides", but then later papers we got said it did. I think
they're still working out details. The only things we paid for out of
pocket were souvenirs, and one wrangler that we felt deserved an extra
tip. Disney kept us well supplied with meals, drinks and snacks. I
should mention that flights into Jackson Hole, Wyoming, are
horrifically expensive. We paid over $400 each for tickets from Boston
to Jackson Hole. It doesn't cost *that* much to fly to London!
About 30 days before we left, we got a box in the mail from ABD
containing two backpacks with the Adventures logo, a silly little
zippered card wallet, and a booklet very similar to the one you get
with your cruise documents. There was also a form to fill out with
your height (for matching you up to a bicycle), whether you wanted to
go horseback riding or hiking on Day 2, and whether you choose
whitewater rafting or the aerial tramway for Day 6. In addition, there was a form for flight info (since we didn't get our flights through ABD), and a form for medical information (which I didn't fill out because we didn't have anything relevant).
The backpacks were very nice. As soon as someone pointed out to me that they'd probably sent the same pack to everyone, I embroidered our names prominently onto ours.
A week before we left I got a call asking if we'd participate in two
phone interviews, for which I would be paid. One was to take place in
the 4 days before we left, and one in the 4 days after we returned.
The pre-trip call, 30 minutes, was all about my expectations, and the
post-trip call was a one hour very detailed review of the trip and what
I liked and didn't like about every part of it. I gotta say, I like
being paid to talk about my vacation!
Day 1:
We left at the crack of dawn on Sunday, July 10th. We arrived at
Jackson Hole around 1pm, not having had a chance to eat at all since
breakfast, since apparently airplanes don't serve meals anymore.
Wewere met by our Adventure Guides, Richard and Allison, and were taken
into the town of Jackson Hole for a short while to grab some food.
Then the whole group was gathered up to head out to Jackson Lake Lodge
in the Grand Tetons National Park. The "going into town" part was sort
of a mess, and we ended up with barely enough time to grab some fast
food. I imagine they'll be working on those logistics for the future.
On the way out to the Lodge we stopped at a historical little chapel
whose name escapes me, to look around for a few minutes. A sudden
rainshower cut that short and we continued to the Lodge.
After arriving at the Lodge, Richard and Allison gave us an "here's the
dining room, here's the meeting place for tonight, here's your rooms"
tour and we had an hour or two to unpack and settle before dinner. In
our rooms was a gift bag of goodies. We had a really nice nalgene
water bottle for each of us, a pair of binoculars, a mesh bag, and a
couple bags of trail mix and gummies.
Dinner was a catered buffet for the whole group. We had a cowboy
singer to entertain us, and we played a couple of icebreaker games.
There were 25 guests on this trip: six kids between the ages of 6 and
9, an 11 year old, two teenage sisters, the various parents of the
aforementioned kids, a retired couple, and us. There was also a guy
from marketing along to experience the trip so he could better design
the marketing for it, and the product manager who came along mostly to
meet with the vendors along the way. They were both awfully nice
people.
The food was above-average buffet food, but nothing terribly special.
At dinner we were given "Adventures by Disney" pin lanyards and the
first of what would turn out to be a daily special themed pin.
After dinner we were exhausted, so we went straight to bed.
Day 2
We were up early to be showered, fed and dressed to leave by 9am for
our float trip down the Snake River. We divided up onto three large
rafts and spent two hours leisurely meandering down the river. We saw
so many bald eagles that the excitement kinda wore off. The scenery
was amazing though, especially those mountains. My husband had lived
in New England all his life and he was just amazed by the Grand Tetons.
After rafting we returned to the hotel for lunch. We ate in a real
old-fashioned 50s diner, and of course we had to order burgers and
shakes.
At 2pm we got on the coach (bus) again to head out for our horseback
riding adventure in the Grand Teton National Forest. The outfitter ABD
had selected for us seemed very good. The wranglers gave us all a
brief lesson in how to steer and stop the horse, then matched each
person up with a horse and we set off for a 2 hour ride through the
hills, woods and across the creeks. My husband and I are advanced
riders who own a small horse farm and ride daily, so we were a bit
bored, but the scenery was pleasant and the horses well-behaved.
Back at the hotel we were treated to an hour-long presentation by a
licensed falconer. He brought with him a peregrine and an owl. The
kids were fascinated, and I learned a few things I didn't already know.
(I'm acquainted with a falconer who keeps an owl).
Richard and Allison had made dinner reservations for each family in the
Mural Room for that evening. We asked Mark and Ruthie (the marketing
guy and the product manager) to join us. We like getting to know new
people. The food in the Mural Room was outstanding, especially the
vanilla creme brulee. We talked over dinner until nearly 10pm, then
off to bed.
Day 3
After getting breakfast at the 50s diner, we got our suitcases ready
for a bag pull and checked out of our room. At 9:15 we were on our way
to Jenny Lake for a hike. We took a short ferry ride across the lake,
then hiked to Inspiration Point. It was only a 0.9 mile hike, but with
a 400 foot increase in elevation. Considering we started at 7800 feet
above sea level, it was quite a workout. Again, the scenery was
unbelievable, and we had a ton of fun. I'd actually call this hike one
of the high points of our trip.
After the hike we stopped at a little picnic spot for lunch. We'd
chosen our boxed lunches from a menu the day before, so we just got our
box and found a shady spot to eat. This was probably the first time we
started to really integrate into a group rather than just a bunch of
people traveling together.
After lunch we settled in for the drive to Yellowstone. Richard played
some videos about Yellowstone and some Goofy cartoons to help pass the
time. We also picked up a "step-on" guide who stayed with us for the
day to tell us about Yellowstone.
The first place we stopped in Yellowstone was the West Thumb Geyser
Basin. Richard and Allison passed out "Adventure Ears", which were
headsets with radio receivers. The guide had a microphone and a
transmitter, and the Ears allowed us to hear what he was saying even as
we got all strung out along the boardwalk. I thought they were a
fabulous idea. The thermal features of Yellowstone are pretty freaky,
and hard to describe, so I won't even bother.
After the walk through the basin, we reboarded the bus to go to Lake
Yellowstone Hotel. It's a historic old hotel. The nicest thing I can
say for it is that the food was superb. The dining staff service was
not, unfortunately. Here at the Lake hotel was our first wildlife
encounter, as there was a bull bison having himself a nice nap up
against the back of the hotel annex we were staying in.
We had a "Sunset Surprise" on our Daily Quest (tour version of a
Personal Navigator), which turned out to be a champagne toast on the
lake overlook. We had to move it up to the porch of the hotel after a
few minutes, though, because we were being eaten alive by mosquitos.
Day 4
We were only in the Lake hotel for one night, so we had to again
prepare for an early bag pull. We got breakfast and got on the bus for
more driving around looking at thermal features. For the morning, we
hiked the rim of "The Grand Canyon of Yellowstone", ending up at Artist
Point. I hate to keep saying "the scenery was amazing", but it was.
Again we had a tour guide with us to tell us all about the geology and
volcanic features of the area.
Lunch was that the Canyon Village dining room. It wasn't anything
spectacular, but it was fuel for the afternoon, then we had a bit of
free time to roam the gift shops or just look around. On the way to
lunch we'd driven through Hidden Valley, where all the bison cows and
calves hang out for the summer, so we got to experience the
quintessential Yellowstone "animals in the road" traffic jam. We
visited Fountain Paint Pots mud pits and various other thermal features
on our way to the Old Faithful Inn.
While I knew the Wilderness Lodge at WDW had been modeled on the
turn-of-the-century National Park Lodges, I didn't know they meant Old
Faithful Inn. We love the Wilderness Lodge, so we had a grand time
exploring Old Faithful and seeing the originals of all the little
details that Disney had copied. Oh yeah, and there was some geyser
there too.
Dinner was again by reservation-per-family, and then we had the evening
to ourselves.
Day 5
Bicycling day. After breakfast, we met in the lobby to start our bike
trip to Biscuit Basin. The outfitters for the bike trip were just as
professional and entertaining as the horseback outfitters had been.
They got us all matched up with helmets and onto bikes and off we went.
The trip *to* Biscuit Basin was all down hill and pleasant, except for
the horrible deer flies. No one can control that, though. We walked
around the boardwalks looking at more hot springs and mudpots (can you
tell I was getting a little bored with Yet Another Hot Spring?), then
headed back to the hotel. Now, the problem with all down-hill on the
way out means all uphill on the way back. Half of us didn't make it.
We got about a third of the way back, then voted to coast back down to
the road and wait for the van to come get us. I suspect Disney might
be modifying this part of the trip in the future.
We had a nice lunch of sandwiches and cold fried chicken out on the
patio of the Snow Lodge, then had an hour to browse gift shops before
the afternoon bike ride to Lone Star Geyser. Not everyone choose to go
on that ride; some just hung out at the hotel. We went, and found it a
much easier, more pleasant ride than Biscuit Basin.
After showers and a stop for ice-cream, we headed down to dinner.
Dinner was again by reservation-per-family. We actually wished for
more group dining. We eat alone at home all the time, so it would have
been nice to have had more company. Tonight was the special kids-only
dinner with the Adventure Guides, so I'm sure the parents were happy to
eat alone! The kids went off to a private conference room with Richard
and Allison and a good-sized staff of helpers, where they had hot dogs,
mac-n-cheese, pizza, and ice cream sundaes. They also watched cartoons
and played games.
After the kids-only meal, everyone met back up for the ScavINNger Hunt.
It was just a silly little orienteering game, but it was fun. After
the game Richard passed out our daily pins, and mentioned that we would
probably be wanting to mail postcards. He and Allison then passed out
postcards they'd made for each family from pictures they'd taken
earlier in the week and added the Quest for the West logo to. Everyone
was tickled to death with their postcards and none of us were willing
to mail them!
Day 6
After prepping for bag pull and checking out of the hotel, we boarded
the bus for the trip back to Jackson Hole and the next stage of our
trip. We stopped for a photo opportunity at the continental divide,
then went to the Jackson Playhouse for lunch in a western saloon
complete with saloon girls and singing cowboys. It reminded me a lot
of the Hoop-de-doo Revue. We were given an hour to wander around
downtown Jackson Hole, then boarded the coach to go to our whitewater
rafting outfitter.
There were a few problems with the outfitter, specifically with the bus
that was to take us from the outfitter to the boat launch, but it
eventually got sorted out, we got to the river, and into our rafts.
Matt and I were on the first raft. There were eight passengers and one
guide. We were on the river for almost two hours, but it sure didn't
feel like it. We had a marvelous time, especially over the class 3
rapids. This was definitely a high point of the trip for me.
After rafting (and another minor disaster with the outfitter's bus) we
made it to the Spotted Horse Ranch and got checked in. We all had
individual cabins, most of which overlooked the river that ran through
the ranch. Dinner was family-style ribs and BBQ chicken at large
tables. The food was excellent, and I had a great time talking
horse-stuff with the ranch manager.
After dinner most of the guests went across the river to the
campfire/BBQ pit to listen to a cowboy storyteller. Matt and I skipped
that in favor of a soak in the hot tub and more horsetalk with the
ranch staff, then off to bed.
Day 7
Our morning started off with watching the wranglers bring the horses in
from the hills. They run them free from the pasture, across the bridge
and down to the barn. It was neat to see.
At breakfast we learned that arrangements had been made for Matt and I
to go out on a private ride instead of on the group ride, so we could
ride at our level instead of just nose-to-tail walking. We headed out
with just one wrangler and had a grand old time galloping fields,
climbing difficult hills, fording rivers, and enjoying the scenery, for
about 2 and a half hours. I heard that the group ride didn't go very
well, but I didn't get details.
After lunch back at the ranch house we headed out again on horseback,
this time for a group ride. Only about a dozen people went out on this
one. The rest either rested, did some fly fishing, or played pool in
the ranch house. Apparently the wranglers organized a relay-race for
the kids where they got to gallop, so they had a great time. Our ride
was pretty exciting. We rode a few miles up a canyon, then turned up
the hill to the top of the ridge and rode back on the top of the ridge.
I didn't think there was anything you could do on horseback that would
scare me, but I was wrong. I don't mind a steep dropoff on one side,
but I had a hard time with having steep drops on both sides. The views
were amazing.
After the ride we got showered and changed into clean clothes, we
headed across the river to the BBQ pit for a yummy steak dinner. After
dinner we guests presented Richard and Allison with presents we'd
collectively bought them at Yellowstone. They really were wonderful
guides.
While we were sitting about chatting and playing with the kids, the Big
Cheese himself showed up on the porch of the ranch house across the
river. That's right, Mickey Mouse himself came by the ranch to make
sure we were all having a good time. Watching the children react when
they saw him, and all take off running as fast as they could, screaming
"MickeyMickeyMickeyMickey!!" is one of the best memories of the trip
and they weren't even my kids!
We adults followed at a more reasonable pace. Back at the ranch house
we all got pictures with Mickey and visited with him for a bit before
he had to leave. Then we all trooped into the living room to watch a
wonderful slide show of our vacation that Allison had put together.
There were a few technical difficulties with the equipment but we had
enough engineers with us to sort it out and get through to the end of
the slide show.
After the slideshow the kids and some adult (I got dragged along too)
went back to the BBQ pit to make smores. I hate marshmallows, but I
gagged down the requisite "one marshmallow specially cooked just for
me" from each kid, then called it a night. We would be departing very
early the next morning and wanted to get a decent amount of sleep.
Day 8
The coach took us to the airport at 7:30 am, we caught our 9am flight
and went home.
Overall, I thought it was a great trip. My biggest worry before the
trip was that I wouldn't get along with the other guests, but the other
guests turned out to be the best part of the whole trip. By the end of
the week we had really bonded.
Disney is planning to expand their offerings for the 06 season.
Apparently they're considering Italy, Costa Rica, New Zealand and the
Canadian Rockies, but none of that is actually settled yet.
I also heard that the Yellowstone trip had a 200 person waiting list,
while the Hawaiian trips didn't even sell out.
-Dizma
