We broke all the rules...

[indimom]

And we loved every minute!!

This was our fast and furious, down and dirty, combination trip to Disney and Universal.
With only seven days to spend, we had to cut some of our favorites off the list, and completely revamp our idea of an Orlando vacation done right, but in the end, the results were, well, magical.


For those who are just joining, ! Please introduce yourself! I love company and meeting new people!!

This was our familys last hoo-raw before I start nursing school this fall. We dont know if well be able to visit Orlando again while both kids are still at home, so we were glad to have this opportunity to visit our favorite places one last time.

We previously visited Disney World for ten days in 2005 and 14 days in 2010.
We spent a week at Universal Orlando in 2008.

This trip would be a big change for us, breaking many of our previous Orlando trip rules and guidelines. Our time and budget was limited, so we planned to tent camp at Ft. Wilderness for five days and only visit two of the major parks (Epcot and DHS), plus the water parks. We planned to follow that up with three days at Universal, staying at the Royal Pacific Resort.

If you would like to know more about our plans or our little family, feel free to skim our PTR where youll find a lot more details and general craziness.

For those who are have followed along during our planning for the trip, Welcome Back , and I apologize for the delay in getting started. I will make every effort to get an update up weekly at the very least (hopefully quicker, but with school starting, I cant make any promises).

So, on with the show!!!

INDEX:
Chapter One: Gearing Up and Driving, Driving, Driving. Friday July 19th.
Chapter Two: Weve been Robbed! Saturday, July 20th.
Chapter Three: We have NOT been robbed! And "Are there gators in there?" Saturday, July 20th.
Chapter Four: Tour Groups, Motion Sickness, and Blisters, Oh My! DHS. Sunday, July 21st.
Chapter Four Continued: Tour Groups, Motion Sickness and Blisters Continued.
Chapter Five: No kidding, This time we really WERE robbed, Save ME! And A Stranger Sat on me. Sunday July 21st.
Chapter Six: Who knew there were wilder rides than Summit Plummet? Matt's Arial Acrobatics. Monday, July 22nd.
Chapter Seven: You call this coffee? Hats. And Disney Transportation. Monday, July 22.
Chapter Eight: Epcot, Oh How we love thee. Let me Count the Ways. Tuesday, July 23.

 

[indimom]

I got home from work a bit after 7:30 a.m. Most of the packing was already done, but the kids and I gathered up the last minute items like pillows, toothbrushes and cellphone chargers. We spent the morning doing some touch up cleaning and laundry. It felt like things should have gone smoothly, but that never happens. You always end up with last minute items you forgot about or need to get taken care of and we were really rushing to get it all done.

Some last minute items to pack.

Matt had finally decided to take a half day from work, so was home at lunchtime. I had already taken out the trash and didn’t want to make more which would sit in the heat for days, so we started our vacation early with a quick McDonald’s lunch. Who knew this would be a problem?? But, once again, friendly neighbors try to undermine our secret plans.

We’re sitting in a booth at our local McDonald’s when I hear a friendly voice I recognize and get a bit hug from behind. An older couple who attend my parent’s church, and who I grew up with, have also stopped into McDonald’s and popped over to say hello. But, it didn’t stop there.

They very next thing I hear is, “So, are you back from Florida already?”
Seriously! Does EVERYONE in our little town know our plans?? (I wanted to wring my mom’s neck. There is no doubt that this was the source of their information.) Emily was smirking (she was the one who heard the mechanic mention Florida just days earlier) and Garren was trying to pretend he didn’t hear, but it was pretty clear that he did.

Ah well. If you can’t beat em, join em. So, Matt and I explain that no, we are leaving in just a couple hours, and let the faux pas pass unexplained. So, the kids know what state we are heading to. It's D-Day. We couldn't keep it secret forever, right??

A few minutes of friendly conversation follows, updates on school and jobs and family, and they head off to order their lunch. We finish up quickly and head back to the house to get everything finished.

I took Garren to his football physical at 1:40 p.m. which was quick and uneventful. While we were gone, Matt and Emily loaded the car. By the time we got back, they were nearly finished. The trunk was packed to the tip top, we used the car carrier to handle our two coolers, and still had to put more inside the car than I had hoped to. All that without the tarp and extendable tent poles we were planning to bring along. I’m sure we could have rigged them up with the coolers, but Matt was set on leaving them at home, and when all was said and done, we didn’t need them anyway.



I waited until the kids were safely tucked into the backseat, to run back inside for a few last minute items I couldn’t grab earlier. I gathered up Emily and I’s “Disney” bags and the Universal letters and lanyards. Of course, the entire time, I knew I was forgetting something and I sure was. I left the Water Parks refillable mug in the kitchen cabinet, and didn’t notice until hours later on the road. Oh well. I guess we’ll have a new mug when we get home.

When we headed out of Indiana, it was a humid and sticky 92 degrees, so we felt well prepared for the hot weather we anticipated was to come. We actually left earlier than we anticipated, at about 3 p.m.

According to our Garmin, we would arrive in Orlando at about 5 a.m., way earlier than we needed to be there, but hey, who cares, we’ll be in Disney, right????

The drive was fairly uneventful. Due to some construction on our typical interstate route into Ohio, we decided to cut along some back highways for the first hour to save time and headache. It was a good call.



Goodbye Cornfields, Hello Palm Trees!



There was little to no traffic, and we cruised right on to Interstate 75, into Cincinnati, and over the river with no issues. It was about this time that I slipped off into lala land. When I woke up a couple hours later, Matt and Emily reported a short rain storm in Kentucky, but otherwise good traffic and steady progress down the road.

Since we had a few snacks and drinks in the car, we opted to skip dinner and just keep moving. I was having a hard time settling down for a real sleep in the car. The sun was up, the music was rolling, and well, I was too excited to sleep. But I tried, and tried, and tried. I knew I wouldn’t be able to manage the night shift drive safely if I didn’t get some more ZZZZZs.

A few On The Road Photos:





Ha ha! We passed The Mystery Machine in Tennessee! Lol.

I dozed off once more for about 45 minutes, but that was about it.
At about midnight, I took over the driving, but I only managed to keep it up for about two hours. I have glare issues and there was so much traffic and so many lights that I just couldn’t take it. It was exhausting trying to concentrate on the drive and I finally had to give up.

So, Matt loaded up on caffeine and took the wheel again. He cruised us past the Florida line, but eventually, he too was wearing thin. It was 3:30 am and we just didn’t feel safe on the road anymore. But, we really didn’t want to search out a hotel this late at night, so we pulled into a rest stop to get a drink, walk around and wake up, and consider our options. After we parked, we noticed that this rest stop actually had a security truck patrolling the lot and decided we felt safe enough to just doze there for a couple hours. So, we did. I’ve gotta say, I’ve never done anything like that before and I’m not sure I would again, but it was fine.

Garren had been asleep for quite a while at this point, and reported to us in the morning that he woke up once while we were resting in the car and was completely ???? when he realized we were sitting in a parking lot and everyone was sound asleep. But, he decided to just go with it and fell back to sleep.

A short power nap later and we were back on the road again. Emily and Garren slept through the remaining couple hours, as we paid tolls and edged closer to Disney World.



The road signs were becoming more frequent, but they slept on and on. Lol. At least that part of the plan was working out just fine. Emily finally woke up just after we passed the Disney World entrance signs.

(A slight cheat here. I took this photo later in the morning when we went out for breakfast. My first shot of the Disney arch was not as good since it was still a bit dark when we arrived.)

When, Emily woke up, she immediately noted the purple Disney traffic signs and said ‘These are Disney World signs.” Matt says “Yeah, we have to drive through the area, so we decided to enjoy the scenery.” But, she wasn’t buying it anymore. She says “We’re camping at Ft. Wilderness.” You got it, girl.

Garren woke up just as we were nearing the campground, and Emily spilled the beans. I don’t think he believed her at first. But, he finally woke up enough and said “Are we really going to Disney World?” So, we told him yes, and that we would be at the campground in minutes. I think he was shocked.

Emily was busy gloating that “she knew it all along” at least since she saw the first Disney signs further north in Florida. She's such a typical older sibling, a smarty pants, know it all.


Next Up:

Chapter Two: We’ve been robbed! Saturday, July 20th.

 

[indimom]

The Garmin and street signs led us straight there, and we pulled into the short term lot to check in. I was really surprised when I got out of the car and didn’t feel a hint of humidity. What’s up with that??? It actually felt a bit cool. But the ground was wet also, so I figured a rain shower had cooled things off. I was sure the weather wouldn’t stay this way for long. There’s no such thing as cool and low humidity in Orlando in July, right?


Stock Photo

We went to check in and were greeted by Carlos. Carlos the First. There would be many more Carlos’ over the next day or so….not sure why, but it was a popular name at Disney on this trip.

Carlos was helpful and friendly, after laughing at us for our early check in (6 a.m.). We got our key to the world cards and he explained the new “tap to play” technology. No more card sliding necessary, just hold it up to the lock (bathrooms after midnight, laundry rooms 24/7) and open the door, or just tap and touch the finger scan at park entry and in you go. Pretty simple. And we found that the new technology worked well every time we used it.

Carlos goes on to warn the kids about watching out for wildlife like Bears and Gators. “Remember, this is Florida, there are gators in EVERY body of water.”

We were placed in the 2000 loop, one of the two tent loops at Ft. Wilderness. I had expected we would get this loop because we had some large equipment and the 1500 loop has smaller sites.

But, I was a bit bummed. I knew from my research that the 1500 loop was much closer to the pool and I expected the kids would want to swim daily. (Hmm, wonder if they ever get gators in that body of water? ) Ah well, I’m not one to fuss, and maybe we would get a fabulous spot, so we hopped back in the car to check out our site before breakfast.


I circled the two tent camping loops on this Ft. Wilderness map to give you an idea of where they are located compared to the other highlights at the campground.

I’ve just got to add at this point. Wow, Ft. Wilderness is huge. Much, much bigger than most of the campgrounds we’ve stayed at. The map doesn’t really do it justice. It’s just mammoth. Honestly, the only places we’ve stayed that compared were state or national parks. All the private campgrounds we’ve stayed at are much more compact. We didn’t have too much trouble finding our loop, the signs are pretty clear and easy to follow and before I knew it we were pulling in and counting down to our loop…. 2010, 2011…2012. Uh. Hmmm.



There’s a pop up in 2012.


Check the paper work. 2012.



Double check the sign post which clearly indicates each site on the loop. 2012.





Hmmm, Houston, we have a problem.


Someone stole our campsite.


Lol. Either that, or someone screwed up the system back at check in.


Matt and I debate our options.

Maybe this is their check out day and we misunderstood Carlos when he said the site was already open and available.

Maybe someone staked out the wrong site.

Maybe someone decided to “spread out” to an empty site next to the one they were assigned.


At this point, the kids were wide awake and very hungry (we had skipped dinner in the car and only eaten McDonalds for lunch the day before), so Matt and I decided we would head out for a bite to eat, then go back to check-in and let them knew we were still homeless so they could sort out the mess.

We searched out a breakfast location on the Garmin and settled on an IHOP just off Disney property. Minutes later we were pulling in the lot. Easy Peesy. It was only a five minute drive, if that.

Matt had an egg and steak wrap, I had stuffed French toast (yum), Garren had eggs, bacon and pancakes, and Emily had Pancakes. I must apologize at this point for the lack of food porn. I almost always forgot to get photos of our meals.

But, trust me, it was all very good, and my stuffed French Toast was amazing. Our waitress was quick and friendly, and we enjoyed every bite.

By 8 a.m. we were back at Ft. Wilderness check-in. Carlos was no where to be seen, but another couple helpful cast members got us back on track. They weren’t certain if this was a computer snafoo or someone who parked in the wrong spot, but to save us time, they offered us a new site….



In the 1500 loop. Woo Hoo!
Just where I wanted to be. Now, we just need to hope that it would be a big enough pad for our two large tents.

I was so happy that this mistake worked in our favor and we were now getting the loop that was closer to the Meadows Trading Post, pool and other activities.

We were issued new room keys (to access our new comfort station in the 1500 loop) and headed back out to the car. We pulled into 1500 (also known as Cottontail Curl) and counted down to our pad.



Happily, it was not only empty, it was HUGE! Score!!! Bigger and Better than the original site we were given. And we had gotten a glimpse of the bus stop at the entrance to our loop, as well as the pool just across the road. This was going to be PERFECT!

The sun was up and we were more than ready to start setting up our house for the week. We unloaded the car and started with the screen house. We decided to put it toward the back of the pad near the grill to make food prep and serving easier. Then we put up the tent. Since the screen house was on the back of the lot, we opted to turn the tent that direction also. So, the backside of our tent faced the street and car parking. We had a nice couple trees to hang our clothesline from on the right side of the pad.





We were surprised by one thing at the Ft, which I guess we should have expected, since this is Florida and known for its wetlands. But, the area around the pads was swampy. A lot swampy. Like, there is no way I’m walking cross country here, swampy. You can see that a bit in the photo above. AND a lot in the photo of Emily below.



Luckily, the raised sand pads drain water very quickly. Every time it rained during our trip, no matter how much or how long, the water disappeared within minutes from the sand pad, keeping the area nice and clean throughout our stay.

We have often run into mud issues at other campsites, but we had none of that here. We had to be careful not to track sand into the tent, but otherwise, the area stayed very clean and tidy throughout.

You can also see in the photos above that, despite the proximity to other campsites, there is still plenty privacy. We didn't have any problems at all with our neighboring campers throughout our stay. In fact, we barely noticed they were there.

By lunchtime, we had everything up and ready to go. The A/C was secured into the second door, and sealed with duck tape to keep out any creepy crawlies. (AND I am SOOO sorry to those I promised, but I again, forgot to get pictures of the set up. I’m a photo loser. )

The picnic table was clean and ready to be used. The coolers and folding chairs stored under the screen house with room to spare. The tent was set up with bedding and all of our clothes, shower supplies, electronics and necessities.

We took a little time to orient ourselves and check out the showers and bathrooms. Everything seemed clean and nice, as we would expect from Disney.

Then, I saw myself in the mirror! Woh what is happening with the hair?? It was so nice and fairly straight when we got here this morning. A few hours later, and yikes the curl (or perhaps frizz would be a better word) is returning with a vengeance. That’s not right… And, Don’t worry, you’ll get a peek at the horror show plenty later in this trip report.

Of course, the kids wanted to check out the pool, so we changed and headed over. It’s not like I could make my hair any worse by swimming. By this point, it really did feel like a typical Orlando summer day. It had reached 90 degrees and was a humid (although not as bad as I remembered from other summer trips).

The pool area was very nice. I’m sad to say I took almost no pictures of the area. Whenever we headed over, we were in the water, and I didn’t want to risk the camera, so I never got it out. But here’s a couple pictures to give you an idea.


Stock Photo

Every afternoon they had pool games for the kids, and seemed to get a lot more participation than I’ve seen at other resorts. They easily had 30-40 kids from Kindergarten to teens taking part in the games and challenges. My kids didn’t participate, but we enjoyed watching the others having a good time. We even saw a Honey Boo Boo lookalike on this particular day.

After a nice swim, we checked out the other activities available at the Meadows Trading Post area. There were kayaks and canoes to rent, sports equipment to borrow, bikes for rent, evening movies and of course the Chip and Dale Campfire.

We needed to get cleaned up so we could run to the store for more food stuffs to supplement the frozen items we had prepared at home, but decided we would stop back later to enjoy some of the Ft extras.

This photo of the kids walking back to our site from the pool area will give you an idea of how close our loop was. There really wasn’t a better location.

Our loop is just behind the bus stop at the road ahead. The entire distance from the pool to our camping area wasn’t much more than a football field in length.

Next Up:
Chapter 3: We have NOT been robbed! And “Are there Gators in there?” Saturday, July 20th.

 

[luvpoohandcompany]

Hi looks like I'm 1st
Loving every minute of your report so far! Have always been interested in how Fort Wilderness would be so cant wait to read more

 

[golf4miami]

You know I'm going to be checking this trip report out! I'm subbed already!

Sounds like a great start to your trip already and I can't wait to hear the rest.

 

[SuperNEMOfan]

Joining in! Looking forward to hearing about your experience at ft wilderness.

I'd love to camp at Disney. I bet it had a totally different feel.

 

[iuki]

Excellent trip report! Love the photos too.

 

[wiigirl]

Following along.

 

[OhMari]

We slept in our car once. I think many do, that is why there is security.

 

[Kaykool101]

Joining In.

I have seriously been looking forward to this trip report. I can't wait to hear about camping at Disney World!!!

You need to go again though, and get a picture of the A/C set-up.

 

[indimom]

Hi looks like I'm 1st
Loving every minute of your report so far! Have always been interested in how Fort Wilderness would be so cant wait to read more

Woo Hoo! First!
I should have had a prize. Wanna premium sticker, probably number 1,997 from a roll of several thousand?

You know I'm going to be checking this trip report out! I'm subbed already!

Sounds like a great start to your trip already and I can't wait to hear the rest.

Nice to see you here!

Joining in! Looking forward to hearing about your experience at ft wilderness.

I'd love to camp at Disney. I bet it had a totally different feel.

It really did feel different. Much less hectic and rushed and sooo quiet and peaceful (other than the frog chorus, that is). I would love to do it again, but maybe with a camper next time.
We did have some camping excitement later in the trip....but you'll have to wait for that...

Excellent trip report! Love the photos too.

Thanks. The photos were somewhat of a disappointment to me. I wanted to take so many more, but once we're "vacationing" I tend to forget the camera somewhat. I'm not sure how to break that habit; although wearing the camera on my wrist may help, I got several nice shots at the water parks with the disposable that was dangling from my wrist all day.

Following along.

Welcome!

We slept in our car once. I think many do, that is why there is security.

I knew truck drivers did, but I never really thought about car drivers stopping. I guess, as a woman, I've been over-coached about safety on the road and everything sounds risky to me.

Joining In.

I have seriously been looking forward to this trip report. I can't wait to hear about camping at Disney World!!!

You need to go again though, and get a picture of the A/C set-up.

Can't wait to share it all. I miss it already, but writing the report has been a nice way to relive it all. I'm going to try to get another post up tonight which will have a few more photos of the Ft. Be on the lookout!
Oh, that bloomin a/c. It's been the bane of my exhistance. Every time, we were at the campsite, I'd think "don't forget to take a few photos inside the tent and of the a/c, and then I'd forget. Pathetic.
Matt's already trying to plan a trip for next year, maybe we can do it again then????!!!! Actually, he really is thinking about it, and I've let him because I don't want to burst his bubble. But, the only time we will all be available will be Christmas week. Not sure that's a great idea...

Real life update:
The kids are off to school today. Garren's last year at the middle school, so he's top dog for one year. Football practice has started already and we're off to the races.
Emily is starting her sophomore year. She's thrilled. But, I'm sure she'll survive.
Last week was busy and hectic getting ready. And we had a sort of a funny coincidence since we just got back from camping. Emily babysat the Monday after we got back. She took her troupe of kids over to the local hike/bike trails for a walk....
And the next morning, she had poison ivy all over her face. If she hadn't been so miserable, it would have been funny.
One of her little kids got it also, so we know it was from the walk, not from camping.
She was a bit annoyed since they never stepped foot off the path.
But, we doped her up with several different treatments, and the part on her face was nearly gone by today. Just a couple small patches on her arms, legs and back now.

Thanks for all the feedback on the report. Keep it comin. And feel free to ask questions. I may forget some things! I hope to have the next chapter up tonight!

 

[natebenma]

Saw your post over on the "other" board and thought I would join in for the whole report.

Looking forward to read about you camping experiences, Disney fun and adventures at "The Theme Parks Which Must Not Be Named"

Fantastic start. I love your writing style and lots of great details!

 

[klacey1]

Subscribing! We have never considered a FW campsite, but you're making it seem fun so far!

 

[indimom]

Saw your post over on the "other" board and thought I would join in for the whole report.

Looking forward to read about you camping experiences, Disney fun and adventures at "The Theme Parks Which Must Not Be Named"

Fantastic start. I love your writing style and lots of great details!

Thanks you and Welcome!! Love that name "Theme Parks Which Shall Not be Named." I may steal that for my report. Makes a good title for those chapters.

Subscribing! We have never considered a FW campsite, but you're making it seem fun so far!

It really was, well until that one part, but we haven't gotten that far yet. You'll just have to wait for that (insert evil chuckle here).

 

[indimom]

I knew from my research that there was a Publix nearby, but since we dont have those at home, I was concerned it would take me forever to navigate the store and find what I needed, so we decided to try a Walmart instead, since they are all very similar and we assumed we would get through it quicker.

Can I just say YIKES! Walmart in a major tourist area = nightmare! There were people everywhere. You could barely get your cart through the aisles. You felt like samon swimming upstream and no matter where you went, you were always in some one elses way. Eek! Im sure locals avoid stores like this, but Wow, I just cant imagine trying to pick up school supplies or my weekly groceries in a store like that!

We hurried to escape the madness, found what we needed, and managed to avoid any major issues until we reached the checkout. After buying our groceries, I slide my card and get denied. Say What? The cashier says, Did you call and tell them you would be traveling? Uh, no. Ive never done that and never had any problems before. Weve had this card for years and have taken it out-of-state many times.

She explains (with an impatient ugh, tourists sort of tone ) that I need to call ahead when traveling, otherwise they will put a hold on the account, blah, blah, blah&

Yes, I understand what happened. Doesnt mean I expected it to happen. Its never been an issue before. Grrr. So, now my cc is on hold until I can prove it has NOT been stolen from me.

I didnt feel like making the call with people waiting behind us in line, so I pay with cash and we head back to our car, only slightly annoyed at the inconvenience and a bit more irritated at the cashiers attitude.

I remind myself that she probably deals with these issues on a regular basis, possibly with stressed and angry customers, so I try to give it a pass and get back to our vacation mood.

We navigate our way back to the Ft., store the food, add some ice, and decide to head back to the Meadows to try out some of the activities.

DS really wants to go canoeing, so we decide to follow his lead. We rent two canoes from Cast Member Carlos (Number 2). Matt and Emily pick the first canoe, and Garren and I take the second. Life jackets are required, and the kids get an additional air horn that straps to their vest so they can sound the alarm if we get dumped in the creek that surrounds the meadows area.

That got me a little nervous. How often do people fall in? That water looks questionable to me&.

I caught this image further along our canoe tour, but seriously, would you want to fall in that body of water? Yuck&

And didnt Carlos tell us just this morning to be cautious of the waterways Every body of water in Florida has a gater in it. Yikes! And I got stuck in a canoe with the wild child. How did that happen?

So, In my sweetest and gentlest mothering tone of voice, I educate Garren on boating safety&
If you make this canoe tip, Im going to bust you one&.
And were off.

All in all, our little tour was pretty uneventful. Cast members help you getting in and out of the water which is really the most risky part. Garren and I had a small issue figuring out how to turn, (I understand the mechanics of it, but getting the two of us working together took a bit of practice), but we were masters by the end of our tour.

I had Emilys camera when we started, and I really hoped it wouldnt get wet. I won't deny some concern: Even if we didnt get dumped, I had an overly energetic kid sitting two feet in front of me, paddling like crazy. I didnt have a lot of hope I would escape this boat as dry as I entered it.






A few minutes in, Emily asked for her camera, so we made the hand off safely and I had one less thing to worry about. Emily took the rest of the photos, and forced dad to do all the work of paddling their canoe. He didn't actually mind, except he made the mistake of sitting in front, making it a bit difficult to steer alone. But, all in all we did well, and Garren only splashed my lower legs with the scummy water twice.


A bit of wildlife.

We tried to stick together, but did get separated from Matt and Emilys canoe at least once. When we got back to the shore, Matt and Emily shared a little encounter they had when we were apart.

There is a bridge that passes over the waterway. As they were passing by, a woman (accompanied by a small child) calls out Are there gators in there? Matt being a bit of a jokester tells her Yeah, we saw a bunch of them, I actually had to fight one off with our paddle.

The woman pulled her kid closer to her and tells him, And that's why were not canoeing. She thought he was serious. Matt said he had to tell her he was just kidding, all we had seen were fish, turtles and birds, lol...

They let you keep the canoes as long as you like, and you pay by the half hour or hour when you get back to the rental building. Carlos Number Two was still there and only charged us for 30 minutes, although we had been on the water for 45. That was nice of him. We had to guess how long we were on the water because none of us had worn a watch or carried a phone.

We wandered around the area a bit more before we decided to head back to our campsite to eat. We managed to get this one photo of the pool area (from a bit of distance) on our way there. Sadly, thats all I took.


By this point, it was dinnertime, so we made the Skyline Chili I brought from home, with some veggies and dip on the side. A nice filling meal after a fairly long, but lazy day.


Although we wanted to see the bonfire at some point, we were just plum worn out from our long night of driving, and decided to hit the sack early so that we be ready to hit DHS at 9 a.m.

We settled in shortly after sundown. We turned the a/c on about an hour before we went to sleep to cut the humidity in the tent and it was very comfortable at bedtime. I had no problem falling asleep.

A couple hours later, I hear this annoying, obnoxious and incessant sound. My sleep deprived brain categorized it as electronic and I decided that Garren had woken early and was playing on his DS or Kindle with the volume on full blast. I was just about ready to lecture him: Turn the volume off if you are going to play games. People are sleeping here when I realize thats not what Im hearing.

I listen a little longer and realize Im hearing a frog chorus from the surrounding wetlands. Wow, those frogs are loud.

I found this youtube video of Florida frogs just to give you a taste of how it sounded and why I (at first) thought it was an electronic device I was hearing. It was really something else, and Im a born and bred country girl. Im used to night sounds.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ne51SkvfycQ

Once I realized what the sound was, I then noted that I was freezing. I grabbed an extra blanket and squeezed a bit closer to Matt on the air mattress and went back to sleep.

In the morning, we all commented on being awakened by the electronic-sounding frogs. It really was quite a chorus. I woke again the following night, but after that I was either too tired or too accustomed to the sound for it to bother me.

When the frogs woke Matt, he got up and turned the a/c off because it was freezing in the tent. Emily had crawled inside her sleeping bag from the cold. It was still quite cool in there when we got up the next morning. I was starting to wonder if we had overestimated the need for air conditioning on this trip???

Up Next:
Chapter Four: Tour Groups, Motion Sickness, and Blisters, Oh My! (Oh, and Humidity Hair and MORE Tour Groups.) Sunday, July 21st.

 

[OhMari]

I learn something new all the time. I had no idea you could go canoeing.
The frog story is funny.

You should of went into Publix. The prices were about the same as Walmart. Though we did go into one in Key West and the prices were outrageous, but that is because everything cost a ton more in Key West.

 

[indimom]

I learn something new all the time. I had no idea you could go canoeing.
The frog story is funny.

You should of went into Publix. The prices were about the same as Walmart. Though we did go into one in Key West and the prices were outrageous, but that is because everything cost a ton more in Key West.

They had quite a few activities that I didn't realize. And lots of sports equipment you could borrow for a while (tennis, etc). There was a tetherball court in our loop which a lot of kids had fun with.

I guess we should have realized there would be frogs when we saw the "pond" surrounding all the tent pads, but it didn't even occur to us. lol. Garren had a great time catching frogs all week. Most of them were about the size of your thumb, from the first knuckle to the tip of the finger, and very easy to catch.
He never could get one of those slippery fast little lizards though...

I think you're right about Publix. I can't imagine that a grocery store would have been so crowded. That Walmart was nuts!

 

[natebenma]

Wow! Great chapter!

Bummer about your credit card! Hope you were able to get that squared away.

So they warned you about the gators but did they say anything about the brain-eating amoeba? That's what scares me about the waterways in Florida. "Stay out of the d*mn lakes!"

Still, the canoeing sounds like a lot of fun, and I think I would do it.

That is hilarious about the frog chorus- thanks for including the sample of the sounds. I remember not being able to sleep one night on a trip to the Caribbean because of tree frogs!

Looking forward to reading more!

 

[golf4miami]

I had no idea that you could go canoeing at WL! If Hannah and I are able to find some free time we might just head over there to do it as that would be a relaxing activity. If not this trip then it's definitely something to consider on trips going forward.

Loving this report so far. I cannot wait to see what happens on your next day.

 

[coneygoil]

Lovely! I've never read a TR where someone stayed in a tent at FT Wilderness! Sounds interesting It's always cool to get a different perspective on staying at Disney.

LOL about the frog choir! I'm a country girl too and have always had ponds on my land, so I can imagine how it would sound like an electronic device!

Can't wait for more