Short Fort Review-photos included

[Ciciwoowoo]

Your daughter is absolutely adoreable!

I'm enjoying reading your report!

 

[disney4dan]

Awesome TR, glad you had a good time and it sounds like a great time of year to go. We miss those days when our kids were younger and we could travel during the slow periods. Now, it gets old real fast waiting in line for 90 minutes because all the FP's are gone.

Your daughter is at that perfect age for MK and WDW in general. Looking forward to more, curious to see how she liked the other parks.

 

[elizablake]

Super report - so glad you chose to post it here. And the pics of your DD are priceless. She is truly having the time of her life!!

Keep 'em coming - feels like I'm there with you!

She did have the time of her life. But my husband and I were surprised how much fun WE had. It was great all experiencing DW together for the first time.

Your daughter is absolutely adoreable!

I'm enjoying reading your report!

Thank you.

Awesome TR, glad you had a good time and it sounds like a great time of year to go. We miss those days when our kids were younger and we could travel during the slow periods. Now, it gets old real fast waiting in line for 90 minutes because all the FP's are gone.

Your daughter is at that perfect age for MK and WDW in general. Looking forward to more, curious to see how she liked the other parks.

I would recommend Jan. to anyone. The combination of low crowds and great weather can't be beat.

Our days of traveling during the slow season might already be over. I spoke to her Kindergarten teacher (she starts next year) and she wasn't too supportive of taking my DD out of school to go on vacation. We wouldn't feel comfortable without her teacher's blessing so I'm not sure if we'll be back or not.

I think it depends on the 4 year old but this was the perfect time to go for my DD. I agree that going before the kid is too cool to get into the "magic" is the best plan.

She loved all the parks. She said her favorite was MK, followed by Hollywood Sudios, then Animal Kingdom and EPCOT.

 

[stacktester]

My 3 y/o nephew is turning 4 St. Patties Day and my brother and his family are coming to join us at the campground the end of March so they can take him on his 1st WDW trip. I can't wait to see the look in his eyes when he goes.

 

[auntie]

Enjoyed reading your trip report. Your daughter is the perfect age to really appreciate the Disney experience. Nothing like seeing the MK through the eyes of a child.

On that note..God I feel old. Excuse me while I go smack my 21 year old daughter. How dare she grow up. Damn kid.

 

[2goofycampers]

Great report. Sounds like a wonderful family vacation.

 

[mooneyda]

Let me start by saying I just love your trip report so far.
As for this statement.
I could talk/write all day about our trip. My co-workers are getting sick of it. They see me coming with my 10 photo albums and run.
they just do not understand. LOL
I never realized the camp ground was as big as it is.I made the mistake of walking from the bus stop out front to the Marina in 95 degree weather. I should have realized when they had buses running to campground colors.OOps LOL

 

[nana2tots]

Hey, Was wondering if you pulled a fifth wheel, or was it a travel trailor ? We want to pull our 32' travel trailor to Disney, but hubby says i will have to learn to help do the driving before we ever do this. I am very nervous about this, even though it has all sway bars, etc. Was wondering if your route at the time you drove was straight hwy, or did you have lots of on and off exits. If i could do only straight w/ no exiting, i believe i can do it. Thanks

 

[elizablake]

My 3 y/o nephew is turning 4 St. Patties Day and my brother and his family are coming to join us at the campground the end of March so they can take him on his 1st WDW trip. I can't wait to see the look in his eyes when he goes.

That sounds like fun! I'm sure your nephew is going to love it. Check out the pony rides at the Fort.

 

[elizablake]

Enjoyed reading your trip report. Your daughter is the perfect age to really appreciate the Disney experience. Nothing like seeing the MK through the eyes of a child.

On that note..God I feel old. Excuse me while I go smack my 21 year old daughter. How dare she grow up. Damn kid.

My DD promised to never grow up.

Let me start by saying I just love your trip report so far.
As for this statement.
I could talk/write all day about our trip. My co-workers are getting sick of it. They see me coming with my 10 photo albums and run.
they just do not understand. LOL
I never realized the camp ground was as big as it is.I made the mistake of walking from the bus stop out front to the Marina in 95 degree weather. I should have realized when they had buses running to campground colors.OOps LOL

Wow. That's a heck of a walk. Next time forget walking all together and rent a golf cart.

Hey, Was wondering if you pulled a fifth wheel, or was it a travel trailor ? We want to pull our 32' travel trailor to Disney, but hubby says i will have to learn to help do the driving before we ever do this. I am very nervous about this, even though it has all sway bars, etc. Was wondering if your route at the time you drove was straight hwy, or did you have lots of on and off exits. If i could do only straight w/ no exiting, i believe i can do it. Thanks

It's a motor home. Once we got out of Atl, we stayed on I-75 almost the whole way. When I had to stop, I waited for a rest stop. I've driven a truck pulling a boat before. As long as I don't have to back-up, it's not that bad.

You'll be fine. Changing lanes is a little more challenging than in a car but I've found that when I turn on my blinker, people get out of my way fast!

 

[elizablake]

Saturday we decided to sleep in and have a late breakfast since our first day was so busy. Today was my DD’s appointment at BBB and our dinner with Cinderella at 1900 Park Faire. Otherwise, the day was open.

We arrived at the MK about 11:00. We got fast passes for Winnie the Pooh, of course and rode Snow White since it only had a 5 minute wait. The tea cups had a short wait also so we took advantage. My DD’s appointment for BBB was at 12:00. We checked in about 11:45. The place was super busy but they were only running about 15 minutes late. My husband went to Space Mountain to get fast passes while we waited. DD had a great fairy god mother in training. She treated DD like a princess. DD being the girly girl that she is enjoyed every moment of the pampering. DD was able to pick which hairstyle, crown, nail polish and lipstick. The transformation took about 30 minutes. DD was not able to see herself till the big reveal at the end. We are so glad DD was able to do this. The package cost $55 and included hair, nails and make-up. I bought the dress for 75% off at the Disney Store after Halloween. The packages that include a dress are closer to $200. DD didn’t seem to notice or care that we brought the dress from home.

Afterwards we rode Winnie the Pooh with our fast passes and then rode the Carousel twice.

Next was Mickey’s Philharmagic. LOVED IT!!! We made our way towards Tomorrowland to use our Space Mountain fast passes but we stopped to meet the wicked step sisters and step mother. They were so funny. Completely in character the whole time. I wish MK had more villains to meet.

We all rode Buzz with a five minute wait. Then DH went to use his fast pass while DD and I met Stitch and Buzz Lightyear.

We were running out of time so I gave away my Space Mountain fast pass and we headed toward Main Street to see the Parade.

As soon as the parade was over we quickly left the MK so we wouldn’t be late for our 4:30 ADR at 1900 Park Faire. The monorail ride to The Grand Floridian. The hotel was beautiful. OK, I see why people pay a fortune to stay there. We took a few photos of our little princess and it was time for dinner.

Dinner starts at 4:30 so we were among the first guests seated but the dinning room filled up by the time we left. The food was decent. I remember prime rib, pasta dishes, a variety of sides, salad, really good soup, and yummy deserts all on a buffet. The kids had their own buffet with pizza, mac and cheese, corn, broccoli, and soft serve ice cream. All the characters came around to the table. Cinderella spent about 5 minutes at the table talking to DD. The wicked step mothers and sisters were mean and nasty as expected. When Prince Charming came to the table, my DD just froze. He kept asking her questions but she just stared at him blankly with her mouth open. I admit, he was hot. The kids were invited to dance with the characters. The step sister kept getting in cat fights. It was a great experience. With tip, I believe we spent about $100.

After our early dinner we discussed going back to the MK to see Spectromagic but decided to go back to the campground since we had an early morning at AK planned for Sunday. We took the monorail back to MK and then the boat to FW.

Some campsites still had their Christmas decorations up. This site was unbelieveable:

DD wanted to go swimming so we changed and headed to the pool. There was no one else there….probably because it was a little cool to swim. DH and DD played in the pool for about an hour while I talked to the lifeguard. We made a quick stop by the Meadow’s trading post but didn’t buy anything. Then we went back to the RV and turned in early.

 

[eandesmom]

oh your daughter is just adorable! What lovely pictures you have!

 

[Minnie&Mickey]

Keep it coming! I am loving your trip report...and the pictures of your little princess are beautiful!

 

[SCCamper]

Great trip report.

 

[BradyBz12]

Fantastic pics - DD is certainly loving every minute!

 

[DisneyDadinOhio]

Thanks for the report - and those pics are just awesome..!

"..So we gave our fast passes to a near by family of 3 and rode the train back to the front gate.." ---this is actually something that we started doing last year - at the end of each day, we would go ahead and get fast passes for one of the "major" rides (Test Track, Everest, Space, Splash, Thunder, Tower, Rock-n-Roll, etc.) and as we are on our way out of the park, our girls pick out a family coming in and hand them the fast passes...just trying to spread more "magic" around...

 

[normmo]

Ummm - I've been to the fort twice now and didn't know that you can see Wishes from the beach or that the music was piped in. I don't think that I'm totally stupid but really - why did I not know that? Glad that you mentioned it though so we can try it during our trip in April! Seriously - did you all the fort guys just not tell me? Why did I not know that?
Mo

 

[java]

Oh I love the Prince Charming meeting- My dd who was 9 at the time said "Mom he really is Charming!"

We are debating cabins for this trip. It'll be a tough sell on dh- we were not going to go to disney this year- economy and job worries. But the talk of an extension of the 4/3 deal and I may have to jump on it.
We stayed Boardwalk Concierge last year and I'm just afraid it will be too drastic a change for my deluxe snob dh. He would rather not go than go someplace not great. (but I think he would love that his car is right there and that he could fish!)

 

[BigDaddyRog]

Ummm - I've been to the fort twice now and didn't know that you can see Wishes from the beach or that the music was piped in. I don't think that I'm totally stupid but really - why did I not know that? Glad that you mentioned it though so we can try it during our trip in April! Seriously - did you all the fort guys just not tell me? Why did I not know that?
Mo

LOL...it comes up every few weeks on this board!!! These boards have LOTS of very useful "secrets" to teach...you know about the electric water parade at the beach right? it usually happens just before the fireworks start up. Our usual routine at the fort is

go to campfire/singalong
maybe watch some of the movie...maybe not...depends on whats playing
head to the beach for a good water parade spot
take a stroll down the beach to near the end by the little cabin behind the 300 loop and wait for the fireworks...the music for the fireworks is played from the little cabin.
By this time, the kids are ready to relax in the tent...if they arent..a stop at the pool for a quick dip on the way back usually wears them down.
Everybody gets a good nights sleep.

 

[BigDaddyRog]

... He would rather not go than go someplace not great. (but I think he would love that his car is right there and that he could fish!)

There's the loophole.....it is someplace great....a true hidden jewel. My wife never associated WDW with camping at all....but she was sold from the first visit...we wont stay anywhere else now.