Wagon East! Trip Report

[motherwild]

Jake from Disney Junior's "Jake and the Never Land Pirates" Agent OSO from "Special Agent OSO", Handy Manny, and June from "Little Einstein's" are the characters at hollywood and vine.
I would have recognized three out of four of them..
I am not up on the new character My Grandchildren are not around enough for me to know them all. They are in Ks and i'm in NY

 

[bigredbill]

My 10-year old son is too cool for It's a Small World, or so he thinks. It is the little girls' most favorite ride. The first time we rode it, he just stared down into the water to look at all of the coins that had been tossed in. The second time was a bit better. For the photo, I told him if he didn't smile, we weren't going on Buzz Lightyear again. I am a mean dad.

The smiling Caleb...

Our friend, Cecilia, and her son enjoying the ride...

Little Brooklyn loved it...

 

[bigredbill]

Second to the Magic Kingdom, Epcot is one of my favorite parks. Unfortunatley, I missed the morning and early afternoon that my family went to the park. I had realized a couple of my truck tires were getting worn, and wasn't comfortable driving on them back to Nebraska. So, lucky me, I got to spend about three hours at Tire King. Yay.

Anyway, my family decided to go back to Epcot on our final day for a few hours, so I did get to experience the park. This was my third trip, and I still haven't gotten all the way around the world showcase. Need to come minus all of the little ones someday.

We had lunch in Mexico. Just the counter-service, but it was pretty good. And then..... my twelve-year old thought it would be funny to crush some of the tortilla chips and throw them the birds. It was like a scene from an Alfred Hitchcock movie -- birds everywhere!

My older sis, who wasn't thrilled to be on a scooter. She has a Harley back home in Colorado, and this just wasn't her type of ride. She had found out after one day at WDW her knee wasn't going to hold up with all the walking...

Some other photos of Epcot...

 

[CAFarmerGirl]

Nice trip report!

We collect a magnet from each place we stay in our RV. We bought a round magnet holder (about 24 inches dia.) from IKEA and installed it above our dining table in the RV. That is where we stick our travel magnets. It is a nice reminder of our RV travels (while traveling!).

 

[DQPapa]

Great trip report We love the pictures It seems like there is always something to fix especially when you drive as far as you do. We make the trek down from Michigan, I have had flat tires, trans problems, you name it. But its all good when we get to the fort.

 

[bama_ed]

Yea!

More trip report.

I thought you were through.

I'm in.

Bama ED

 

[bigredbill]

Yea!

More trip report.

I thought you were through.

I'm in.

Bama ED

Yeah, sorry about that. I have been a little overwhelmed with a couple other things -- that actually tie into the trip report. There will be more entries.

 

[cruising spud]

I love looking at the pictures of Disney and warm weather. Right now in Pennsylvania we are looking at about 27 degrees and snow this evening.

Thanks for sharing your pictures.

I hadn't realized you were traveling with other friends and family. Did they all stay at the campground?

Kathy

 

[bigredbill]

I love looking at the pictures of Disney and warm weather. Right now in Pennsylvania we are looking at about 27 degrees and snow this evening.

Thanks for sharing your pictures.

I hadn't realized you were traveling with other friends and family. Did they all stay at the campground?

Kathy

It is 12 degrees here in Omaha today. I am wishing I were back in Florida. We flew my sister out from Denver -- she did stay in our trailer with us. Cecilia -- our family friend -- takes care of our little girls at our home during the week. She is also a pediatric nurse on the weekends. She is a very nice lady who has had some really crappy things happen to her during her life. Her mother walked out of their home, never to return, when she was nine. Shortly after her son was born, her husband took off and left the country leaving her alone to raise their child.

We had set some money aside to help out someone around Christmas time, and decided to use it to fly her and her son out to Orlando. They stayed in a hotel though -- we thought they would be more comfortable with their own space. We picked them up in the morning and brought them back late at night.

 

[bigredbill]

Prior to January of 2008, I had never been to Disney World. I grew up in a pretty modest home in rural Nebraska, and that sort of trip was never in our grasp. Late in 2007, my wife and I decided that we would plan a trip to go near the holidays. We aren't much for big crowds, so we shot for the second week of January -- which worked out great.

Now I figured that this first trip was primarily for the kids. I had no idea how much I'd enjoy being there. Everyone was just so happy -- happy to be experiencing such a magical place with their families. It was hard not to just smile.

We returned in January of 2009 -- this time staying longer and going to Universal for a couple days. The rides at Universal were great -- they had more "thrill" rides than WDW, which my wife and kids enjoyed. However, there was definately a different feel to Universal. We were happy to be back at Disney. For me, it just felt more "happy". I really enjoy the detail in the rides and attractions -- the theatrics that are involved. You just don't see those at amusement parks outside of Disney.

In 2010 we met my wife's family out in California at Disneyland. Same great rides as in the Magic Kingdom in Orlando, somewhat easier to get around, same theatrics, not the same "feel" though. A high percentage of visitors were there from the local area on day trips. Not as many happy folks, but still an enjoyable time.

We enjoyed our most recent trip. My four-year old was such a treat on this trip. Her eyes were wide open the entire time. It is so fun to see the excitement in their little faces. There are a few things I'd do differently -- which I will discuss in one of my final posts on this trip report. We are already planning on another trip in a year or two.

 

[bigredbill]

Love the castle at night...

The little kids did some dancing at Cosmic Rays after dinner our final night...

Buzz Lightyear -- my son's favorite ride. He was excited that he could best his old man on points each time...

Waiting in line at one of my favorite rides, Pirates...

Excited to see the new Fantasyland on our next trip...

A family favorite (excluding myself) -- Space Mountain...

In line at another one of my favorites - The Haunted Mansion. My four-year old held tight on my arm the entire ride. She was happy to get off of it. To her credit - she rode it once more before our trip was over...

We love Woody and Jessie...

After riding Splash Mountain, my four-year old exclaimed that she was never, ever riding that again...

Winnie the Pooh - one of our final rides of the trip...

 

[hsmamato2]

I enjoyed reading sounds like you all had fun,and the happy little kid faces are so cute! looks like RV'ing is kind of fun......

 

[cruising spud]

Bill,

Any idea when the new Fantayland opens?

Kathy

 

[bigredbill]

Bill,

Any idea when the new Fantayland opens?

Kathy

I saw where some aspects of the new Fantasyland will be open early in 2012 -- including the new double Dumbo rides. I believe they have different phases and timelines over the next 20 - 24 months, with the Seven Dwarfs roller coaster being the final phase in late 2013.

 

[cruising spud]

Bill,

Thanks for the update. We are hoping to do a Disney trip in 2013, and I wanted to see Fantasyland.

Kathy

 

[Disneypeach]

I enjoyed your trip report. Great pics and cute kids!

 

[bigredbill]

I enjoyed your trip report. Great pics and cute kids!

Thanks - I still need to finish it up. Missing the best parts yet!

 

[bigredbill]

On our final evening at Disney, we felt it appropriate to end at the Magic Kingdom. We were all exhausted by this point -- especially me. Running around the parks from morning until close for five straight days will do that to you.

It was great to see the fireworks, go on a couple favorite rides one last time, and finally get the kids the turkey legs that they had been asking for all week. The castle looks so pretty in the evening.

Here is my clan, all very, very tired...

That is Brooklyn, myself, my wife, Caleb, Liberty, Clarissa, and Aunt Shell.

Cecila and her son...

After returning to the trailer, my wife decides to drive Cecilia and her son back to their hotel. We said our goodbyes -- they would head off to the airport in the morning and beat us back to Omaha by a few days.

My wife had needed to stop by a Walgreens on the way, to pick up a couple items. Well, one of them was a pregnancy test. And, as a big surprise to us all, on our last night in Walt Disney World, we found out our fifth (and final) child is on the way.

Now I need to shop for a different tow vehicle for our trailer.

 

[bigredbill]

Aunt Shell left early Saturday morning on the Disney Express back to the airport. I drove out to fill the truck up with gas prior to attaching the trailer. I had forgotten about the marathon. Wow - what a mistake. It took me over an hour to drive less than three miles, fill up with gas, and return to our site. Traffic was crazy. Busses and cars, bumper to bumper, not moving.

Now, I respect the heck out of those individuals that have conditioned their bodies to be able to run that distance. At that point, however, the words coming out of my mouth were not those of praise.

I had been dreading this drive home all week. It really is a long drive hauling from Omaha. I was really pooped from our vacation, which added to the stress.

We got to a late start (back to normal for our family) heading out of Orlando and only made it to Perry, GA. I was too tired to go any further that night. We pulled into the Fair Harbor RV Park. Easy to get to, large spaces, again - we got there after hours but the owner had put all our info in an envelope on the door for us.

A little disappointed in the bathrooms and showers. My son and I walked over to grab a shower. Took a look inside and decided to shower in the trailer instead. The campgrounds we hit on the way to Orlando, and the Comfort Stations at the Fort really spoiled us.

The second evening we made it up to Benton, IL and stayed in the KOA. Decent place, similar to the campground in Perry. Close to a really good Mexican restaurant, which my wife brought take out from. Showers - well, we decided to shower in the trailer again.

We got an early start the last morning and completed the trip to Omaha. Got in around 7 PM. While I was unloading the trailer and winterizing it, I realized that one of our tires had blown. It had to have happened during the last hour, as we had stopped close to Omaha to fill up one last time with gas. I have a habit of a quick, walk-around inspection anytime we stop, and there were no issues.

Thankfully, we have a dual axle trailer, and the remaining tire was able to carry the weight. Have no clue when it happened - didn't hear or feel it when driving. The rim never touched the ground, so no sparks. We were thankful to be home, and to have had a safe trip.

 

[bigredbill]

We stayed in some really great places on the way. I used www.trailerlifedirectory.com to find campgrounds. The reviews were pretty dead-on of what we experienced.

Loved the Fort. We did not spend nearly enough time there. We really needed to have had more time. Still have five days in the parks, but add another three just to hang out and relax at the Fort. This was the biggest mistake we made. Unfortunately, neither my wife's or my company would have been too happy had we added a few more days of vacation into our plans.

The most stressful part of the drive for me: finding gas stations that I could easily pull a 33' trailer through. There were some stops where this was a challenge.

Thankful for modern technology. The video games, dvds, kindles, etc., helped keep a family of six occupied on a long drive. I was very pleased with how my kids handled the drive. Hardly ever a complaint or a "are we there yet?"

The weather can be crazy in Florida during January. This was our third trip, but our first experience with cold weather. It was actually warmer in Omaha compared to Orlando one of the days we were there.

I will not arrive again on January 1st. I am not a big fan of those holiday crowds. I think I will wait until the second week of January going forward.

Without more time, it is probably better for us to fly to WDW. We certainly did not save much money in travel costs. I am sure I spent over $1000 in gas on the way, plus campgrounds and food on top of that. Our next trip will probably be a flight and reserving a couple rooms at the All-Star or Pop resorts.

Finding out that you are going to be a father (again) at Disney World is kind of a cool thing.

I wanted to also thank everyone on the board for being so kind and providing recommendations prior to this trip. I have enjoyed visiting here and will continue to do so. Our next big trip is planned for this summer. We will be hauling out to Jackson Hole, WY for a week. I plan to complete a trip report from there -- will just put it out on the Camping Community Board instead.

This trip report is complete!!!