Sirenia88's So yeah I'm at the Lodge but I have not seen the construction TR

[sirenia88]

Woo Hoo! 25 days out! I just realized we were at 4 weeks on Thursday. I totally spaced out about my count down clock. The final days are the worst

 

[sirenia88]

Well today is the day. The family and I are here... at the lodge. So far so good. Yes it is not camping. Yes I am not at the fort. However, I really dig the theme. It feels like I am at the Fort.

Our day began like any other. The DD made it to school for a couple of hours. The DW and I spent the last few hours prior to the ride to the airport making the last minute tweaks to the packing. Everything done. Our ride which was the DW's mother picked us up from the house and over to the school for the DD. Finally on our way to the airport for the flight down.

To the airport we go. Got there in really no time. We got the bags checked in easily. Off through security. Helpful hint. TSA pre check is the way to go. However, we had a minor delay due to the DD tripping the scanner off. TSA didn't have the proper personnel on staff for the test they needed to perform. So the one guy said they would just perform some other test once I passed through. Either way we were on our way after a swab test on both my DW and DD. Then we waited for the plane which was delayed coming back from Florida.

The flight down was nice. The pilots were high tailing down to MCO. Jet Blue had wifi on the plane. So we all watched a couple of short movies and listened to some music. We were there at the airport. Disney DME was a short bus ride to the Lodge. We got in got to the room and crashed. A quick change to down for some food and drink. Then went to watch movie at the pool. Not like the fort. Well time to get some sleep. The vacation is on. Stay tuned for another TR in soon.

 

[snowmedic]

Hope you have a great time, even though it isn't the Fort, it is Fort like.

 

[sirenia88]

So it's many weeks and totally forgotten but here is a quick wrap up of my trip to the land of the Wilderness Lodge.

We had a blast. The Lodge was really nice to stay at even with the construction. I am sure @snowmedic would have been right down there talking concrete to the labor force. The construction was not really noticed as much even though a whole wing of the resort was closed down. The pool was nice each day we were at it. Our room was located on a side away from the construction but we got a great of the laundry carts As for the parks. We did all 4 parks. MK and Epcot twice. Halloween at the lodge, Fort and MK was really special. We did breakfast at Trail's End that morning. Afterwards, we took a walk around the campground. I will say one thing, it's strange to visit. It was like I was never there before. However we pointed out the sites we stayed at in prior visits though. We walked all the way down to the Meadows trading post for a brief look around then back to the docks for some pool time at the lodge. I will say the Fort has the slide but the lodge has the pool. DD made a few friends with the lifeguards while we where there.

Halloween was really special at MK. We got the special magic shots from all different camera locations. BTW on the 31st, they are trying their hardest to give away as much candy as possible. We got 9 bags worth plus 3 mine trains on top of it! Plus I made friends with the "blue berries" aka the character handlers. There was an Aussie working the Snow White meet and greet. She was the same one that was at the Tusker House 2 days before. So I just made a simple conversation about it and gave DD a geography lesson right there. I don't know if homeschoolers do this with their kids. It is an excellent opportunity to learn about people and geography in general. I also found out that Disney has about 500 Aussies at a time on College / work exchanges.

We did Epcot. Fast passed Frozen. It's like Disney themed the Malstrom ride lol. While doing Epcot the one day, we did Agent P. we found it fun to watch people watch the Agent's antics in the country's showcase. The other day we did Remy's food around the world pin search. Speaking of which I finally visited Mexico. It's usually not my thing as I usually book it to Norway as my first stop for a brew and wondering.

DW and DD did a family friendly scavenger hunt around MK while I did the Keys to the Kingdom tour. After awhile MK burns me out. So this was really different. It's about 5 hours with lunch. Plus we go on several rides. Haunted Mansion, Jungle Cruise come to mind first. Jungle Cruise was really interested beyond the corny jokes. However the tour guide Annie got few in while on the ride as it is customary. Very interesting when you really sit there and see the ride in a different light. Our guide once worked the HM. So she had a certain connection with the attraction. The tour takes you into the utilador. Now there is an interesting place. You will see how Disney runs in a very small sense. Character cool down rooms, logistics which is really mind boggling. Different things you might not think of when you are on the surface. Also we learned about all the names on the second story windows and Disney trash collection via Employee. The behind the scenes where many of the parade floats come out of is pretty cool as well.

During the lunch I was seated with the tour guide and a group from England. The guide was originally from Long Island so we had some friendly banter about all things New York. I am on Long Island on a regular basis. So I knew some of the areas she was talking about. The Brits wanted to know were to go if they visited New York. So we explained a few places to go to. Annie also told us how she got to work for Disney. She went to a SUNY school outside of Rochester. Her dad actually helped her getting into Disney as she said many years ago before she went to even high school. During one of the visits he inquired about the college work program. One of her semesters was a college work internship in which she worked the ride she didn't care for, the haunted mansion. When she graduated (Psych major) she found herself at Disney doing guest relations. This is how I learned about what Disney offered for college work programs. This might be a good opportunity for those who have children that are going to be over college age. Disney really does look good on the resume. There are many options than just being a ride operator.

We did Animal Kingdom the one day and got on Kilimanjaro 3 times which 2 of them back to back at the end of the day. The end of the day is a great time to do that ride.

Disney Hollywood studios. DD took to the whole star wars theme. She liked doing the launch bay and main stage Star Wars thing. Fantasmic was awesome. The Star Wars fireworks was great to keep the crowds down. We got to meet Chewy and Kylo plus some Jawas with really no one around. The storm troopers are fun. Speaking of fireworks. Try getting a dinner at Ohana's during the fireworks time. It's a great perspective for watching. You should try it

DD and I tried surfing at Typhoon Lagoon. I was OK. DD took to it. She had a blast. Plus she was the only girl in the class. The master instructor and the 2 instructors in the water were girls so they all gave her some real strong encouragement. She was a little surfer girl. Me not so much I think I rode twice in 8 tries and I finally tossed in the towel. It was too much like work. We had about 16 to 18 waves we could ride since the class was pretty small. I wound up BSing with a former TL manager. Really nice guy. He was telling me some insights of Disney and the such. He said he gets a kick out of the Dollywood people trying to bring him on board.

Well that's all for now. My name is being called from another room. Who knows when our next trip to Disney will be. We are thinking about finally doing a spring trip one year as we want to see the flower and garden festival at Epcot. DW and I discussed the possibility of a cruise via Disney. They have them out of NJ/NY area. However, with DD getting older, it is harder to pull her out of school for a longer time. So we are now going to be relegated school time off in the future. Also Flying was fine. It makes it easier to get to the WDW with all the transportation options. We found the Bus was best way to get around. Not Monorail which broke down while we were there as usual. The boats were too slow after finding the bus being the transportation of choice. I have become a believer of the bus. The drivers are not half bad either

Who knows when the next adventure will be...

 

[snowmedic]

Yeah, DW is not at all impressed when I stop and look to see the construction going on. She keeps telling me, your on vacation, stop looking. Habit I suppose, especially when there is concrete being poured.

Sounds like you had a really good time, but don't forget about the Fort.